


The Hidden World

by WeazelTheAbsol



Series: The Hidden World [1]
Category: Natepat - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood and Gore, Explicit Language, Fluff, M/M, Supernatural Elements, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 04:07:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 43
Words: 85,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7602790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeazelTheAbsol/pseuds/WeazelTheAbsol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matt is a college student who is happy with his life. However his life takes a turn when he starts seeing and hearing things that others can't; dragons, demons, werewolves, and many other strange beings. Matt soon learns that he is a Light Keeper, a human that can see supernatural beings and destined to hunt down aggressive monsters to keep humanity safe. Teaming up with other Light Keepers, Matt must learn to fight and survive in this new world of monsters.</p>
<p>Nate is a half human, half wendigo on the run from Light Keepers, while desperately trying to survive in the world. Forced to leave the safety of his forest, Nate wanders towards a city in attempts to hide among humans, unknowing to him he's heading to the city where Matt and many other Light Keepers live.<br/>Despite Matt living in the light and Nate living in the dark, will the two end up meeting each other?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unknown Killer

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I just want to say that this is one of my first ever fan fictions I've written so I hope you guys enjoy it. Updates will be random, possibly either hours, days or weeks, between chapters. Also chapters will range between short and medium length.

Matt gently fluttered his eyes open as the light from the rising sun awoke him. He rubbed his hand over his face before sitting up, looking around his bedroom. He had a simple bedroom with a bed-which he was sitting in-, a bed side table which had an alarm clock sat on it, a wardrobe, desk, chair and draws full of college equipment. Matt looked at him alarm clock, releasing a yawn as he did. 7;00am. He had an hour before college started. Matt stepped out of bed, approached his wardrobe and changed into tidy, smart clothes. He strolled out of his room and into the kitchen. He wandered over the the television and switched it onto the news in the background as he made himself a bowl of cereal and boiled the kettle. The kettle steamed as it finished and Matt poured himself a warm cup of tea. He took a small mouthful of cereal as he listened to the television.

"Another dead body was found within the forest outside of town. Like the other dead victims found there, the body has teeth marks and pieces of flesh torn out of it; along with some organs. Police are unsure if the killer is a person or a type of animal, but they do advise not to go in the forest after ten at night, to six in the morning; since this seems to be the time period the killer is about."

Matt looked up to the TV, an eyebrow raised. _Another murder?_   He swallowed. _These murders have been going on for a few weeks now. Not only that but from reports, the victims have been eaten._ Matt quickly finished his cereal and tea, trying to block out the sound of the reporter on the TV. He couldn't help but think about what the killer could be. It could possibly be an animal- but what? Matt placed the bowl and cup in the sink and grabbed his school bag. He checked to see if everything was inside of it. Once he was sure he had everything, he walked out of his house, locked the door and began walking to college. It wasn't that long of a walk, fifteen minutes maximum. The breeze lightly brushed at Matt's brown hair and the sun was warm on Matt's skin.

Five minutes of walking passed and Matt gazed to his side, towards the forest. He passed the forest of the way to college and it was a pleasant sight, although lately Matt was unsure how to feel about it. He had walked in it before with Alex and Kelly and it was really nice listening to the songs of the birds and the whisper of leaves. Now when Matt gazed at it; dread filled him, fear filled him. Matt sighed before looking forward, continuing his walk to college.

"Matt!" A voice called his name. 

Matt stopped and turned around as a female with reddish, brown hair and bright eyes approached him alongside a male with brown hair and a beard. Matt smiled in greeting. "Hi Alex, hi Kelly I was literally just thinking about you two."

"Really?" Alex questioned.

All of them started walking together and Matt nodded. "I was thinking about when we strolled through the forest together."

Kelly gave a smile. "That was a good walk." She looked back at the forest. "It's a shame really. It was such a lovely place to walk, now it's one of the most feared places here."

Alex eyed her curiously. "You're an animal expert any idea if the killer's a bear or something?"

The smile on Kelly's face faded as she shook her head. "I've done a lot of research but there are no animals that I can find that kill so violently. From police reports, the victims were supposedly eaten alive. Some also had their organs ripped out."

Matt stiffed slightly. "So, is it possible that a human is killing them?"

"It's more likely that it is a human than an animal. From what I've read, sharpened fingernail and teeth marks were found on some of the bodies, which were found to relate closely to human fingernail and teeth marks." Kelly answered.

Matt felt Alex shiver beside him. "Is it really possible for a human to do that?"

Matt shrugged. "Maybe it's just a lone human cannibal?"

Kelly and Alex exchanged glances. "Maybe." Kelly muttered.

Their conversation died slightly as they continued their walked to school.

 

Nate watched as policemen flooded into the forest, searching intently. He was sitting in a tree, his back against the trunk and his legs stretched out on one of the many branches. Nate placed his head against the bark and closed his eyes. He was exhausted. His latest victim put up quite the fight. Mutters broke out between the policemen but Nate wasn't paying attention to what they were saying. Nate sighed. He wanted to get out of this forest and find a new place to live; maybe even find a pack of wendigos to join- but he couldn't. He was half human. He could be seen by Normals. Nate growled at himself.  _If only i was a pure wendigo. That way Normals wouldn't be able to see me. But then I would be complete cannibalistic._ Nate snorted to himself. "Not that I'm already cannibalistic." He grumbled to himself. Nate scratched his head, his finger hitting one of his antlers as he did. He opened his eyes to see that the policemen had walked off. Nate gave his arms a stretch before dropping out of the tree and landing on his feet. He strolled through the towering trees gazing around the lush greenery. Nate eyed the leaves above him, deep in thought.  _Has it really been five years since I resorted to cannibalism?_ Nate wondered. He moved his vision towards the city which sat outside the forest. He blinked.  _I barley remember being human._ Nate bit at his long rotten fingernails. His appearance was very human like; his only wendigo features being antlers, stronger paler skin and sharpened nails and teeth. His senses were strengthened, he could mimic human voices and make deafening screeches, although he didn't do it very often. Everything else about him was human. He stayed there for a few minutes, drinking in the view.

"I still don't understand how we haven't found anything evidence leading to the killer."

Nate's ears pricked up a bit as he heard the policemen gradually walking back over to where Nate was standing. He swiftly pulled himself up the nearest tree and clambered up it, his long fingernails helping him drastically. Nate sat on the one of the cold branches and lent his back against the tree trunk as the policemen came into view.

"I don't know. The killer's pretty smart." Nate heard one of the policemen responded.

 _Either that or all of you are just fucking stupid._ Nate thought. He blocked out the rest of the policemen's conversation as he folded his arms.  _I need some rest._ He told himself as he slowly closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him.


	2. Sights Which Only Few Can See

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just letting you guys know that some of the characters that arrive later on are given random names because I can't think of too many youtubers to put as side characters, so all of the side characters are just random characters. They're just named whatever came to my mind.

Matt wrote down simple notes as his teacher rambled on about neuroscience. From what he could tell, he was the only one in the class paying full attention, the other students in the classroom were muttering to each other about the murders. _The entire college is talking about these murders._ Matt thought to himself. He came across two teachers earlier in the day discussing about it also. Matt tried to keep his focus on the lesson but he was curious about what over people thought about the murders. Matt jotted down another note in his book before pricking his ears to listen to the mischievous mutters.

"Your serious? The police have found no clues, evidence- anything to help lead them to the killer?" A male whispered

"Nope. Nothing." a female voice quietly replied.

"Not even fingerprints?"

"Not even fingerprints. All they know is that the killer is probably human; since that's what the nail and bite marks closely relate to."

"Well, surely if they found nail marks, they would of found fingerprints also."

"Apparently not."

"What creeps me out the most is that the victims were eaten." A second male joined the hushed conversation.

"I know. It's revolting." The female murmured in agreement.

Matt broke his attention on the conversation and continued concentrating on the lesson.

 

Class eventually ended and Matt walked out, ready to meet Alex and Kelly for lunch. His thoughts were jumbled up. He desperately wanted to push away the thoughts of the murders, but it was difficult not too, especially when people have no idea what the killer is. _I guess people just like popping out possible theories on what the killer might be._ Matt guessed. He continued walking, trying not to let the subject bother him. He eventually arrived at the college cafe. He bought a sandwich and a diet coke then sat down at an available table. A few moments passed until Alex and Kelly strolled into the cafe, they bought themselves a sandwich before joining Matt at the table.

"Psychology is weird." Alex commented lightly as he sat down.

Matt snorted. "Well you decided to study it in the first place."

"I know but, it just messes with your mind." He grumbled.

Kelly giggled gently before taking a bite out of her sandwich. They talked about their lessons plainly. Matt laughed as the conversation spiralled into weird directions. He took a sip of diet coke, and looked out of the window of the cafe. That's when Matt froze. His eyes widened as he stared outside, his gaze fixing on a creature, that Matt believed was only in books and movies. A medium sized, golden scaled lizard, with a fairly long tail and large wings. It had dark eyes and horns which seemed to only be little stumps out of its head. Matt swallowed his mouthful of diet coke. _A dragon?_   He gawked at the creature. What made Matt more confused was how the people around it just walked normally, as if the dragon wasn't even there. The golden dragon seemed to be quite tame also. It was sitting down, it's wings folded against is bright scales and gently eyeing people as they walked by.  _This can't be real, can it?_

Matt was snapped out of his thought by an aggressive tap of his shoulder. He turned his head to see Kelly patting his shoulder and Alex gazing at him, his eyes full of concern.

"You alright Matt?" Alex questioned. "You were staring out the window for a least two minutes."

Matt whipped his head back to the window. The dragon was still there. He turned back to his friends.

"Were you just in deep thought, staring intently at a tree or something?" Kelly asked.

Matt blinked.  _They can't see the dragon?_  "Yeah. I was thinking. I'm fine." He drifted off. Matt swallowed nervously. He didn't want to just randomly say 'Hey I see a dragon outside!' he would seem insane. Oddly, he seemed to be the only one who could see the golden scaled dragon.  _Why?_ Matt wondered.

"It's a fucking hoax or something! I'll go in that forest tonight and prove to you that's not real!"

Matt Alex and Kelly whipped their heads around as a male yelled at the table behind them.

"No Jake! So many people have been slaughtered in that forest!" A female retaliated.

"Ruby is right, you're going to get yourself killed." A male agreed.

"Fine. I never said you guys had to come with. I'm just going to go and spend one hour in the forest tonight and show all of you that there is no cannibalistic human or animal in the woods." Jake grumbled.

Kelly blinked. "That guy's mad. Those murders in the forest have been going on everyday for almost two months. Surely anyone would be pissed terrified to go in there at night."

Alex shrugged. "His decision at the end of the day, but I agree."

Kelly and Alex kept talking but Matt moved his vision back to the dragon. For a moment, the dragon met his gaze before turning its head and resting it on its front legs. _I wonder i_ _f they're more creatures like you that only I can see?_  Then a thought erupted in Matt's mind.  _What if the killer in the forest is a creature that only I can see?_  Matt was snapped out of his thoughts when the bell for next lesson rung. Matt quickly grabbed his bag and finished his diet coke.  _Hopefully this last lesson will finish quickly so I can rush home and sort out my thoughts._

 

The final bell of the day rung out and Matt bolted out of the college. He wasn't sure on what to do. He just saw a dragon, _a dragon_ and he seemed to be the only one who saw it.  _Maybe I should go if it's still there._ Matt hastily walked around the college, in the direction of the cafe. He got there in no time and gazed around. He flinched. The dragon was still there, sitting gracefully on the ground and its eyes firmly connected to Matt's. Gradually, Matt walked up to the golden scaled creature. "Hey buddy." Matt spoke gently, reaching out his hand slightly. The dragon sniffed Matt at his arm slowly approached it. This is when Matt noticed the reins over its nose. _It's really well tamed._

"Hey! Stepped back!" A male warned. Matt looked up as a male and female rushing over to him. The male had short brown hair and light coloured eyes. The female had long brown hair and glittering brown eyes. _  
_

Matt moved his hand away from the dragon. "Sorry! I didn't know that the dragon belonged to someone." Matt apologised.

The female gave him a friendly smile. "It's okay. It's difficult to tell if a dragon's tame or not-." She fell silent, before eyeing Matt up and down. 

Matt blinked with confusion. "Are you okay?"

"You can see Peepachu?" She questioned

Matt blinked rapidly. "Peepachu?"

The male pointed and Matt followed his arm to the dragon. "Oh the dragon? Yeah I can see him." Matt then froze, realising something. "Wait! You guys can see the dragon too?"

The male snorted. "Of course we can. We're Light Keepers."

Matt titled his head. "Light Keepers?" he echoed.

The male opened his mouth but the female spoke before he could. "Humans who can see the supernatural side of the world and are trained to fight evil supernatural stuff!" She explained.

The male sighed. "Yeah that's pretty much what we do. I'm Jason and this is Stephanie."

"I'm Matt." Matt introduced. He opened his mouth to ask a question but Stephanie cut him off. "If you have questions, can we go to your home or some place private? We're not allowed to discuss supernatural matters in front of Normals."

"Normals?" Matt raised an eyebrow.

"Humans that can't see the supernatural side of the world." Jason explained.

"Oh okay. Come over to my house then." Matt invited.

Stephanie walked up to Peepachu, grabbed his reins then walked him over to Matt. "Okay let's go."


	3. Roaming Wendigo

Nate awoke as the sun started to set, the faint light of it just visible through the trees. He gave a silent yawn, pushing his glasses up his nose gently. He pricked his ears, listening for any life around him. The sound of birds blissfully singing could be heard in the distance, along with the scurrying of squirrels running up trees; but he couldn't hear any human life around him. Nate leaped down from the tree and landed gracefully. He began to strolling around the forest, the breeze gently brushing his ebony hair. He walked for a few minutes, until he entered a clearing. Nate gazed up at the open sky, which was filled with bright reds and oranges. He squinted at the light, the warmth burning his skin. _Thank God it's night soon._ Nate licked his lips and smirked. _I wonder who will be my victim tonight?_

 

Matt unlocked the door to his house and carefully opened it. He entered, Jason trailing behind him. Stephanie ordered Peepachu to sit down outside before following Jason into Matt's house.

"Do you mind me asking why you named the dragon Peepachu?" Matt questioned.

"Stephanie named him after her pet rabbit." Jason summarised simply.

Stephanie entered the house and Matt closed the door behind her. Matt walked into the kitchen and sat on one of his chairs. Stephanie eagerly sat down on the chair next to him while Jason followed gradually, a laptop in his hands. He sat down and almost immediately booted it up, tapping away at the keyboard.

"Don't mind him." Stephanie muttered. "He brings a laptop everywhere; and he needs to do some research on the murders that have been happening around here."

Matt gaped. "You're researching about the murders?"

"That's the main reason we're here." Jason answered. "We've been sent from Gate-."

"Gate?" Matt raised a confounded eyebrow.

"The city where Light Keepers are trained and brought up." Stephanie explained quickly. She cocked her head to one side. "Where were you trained?"

Matt blinked. "Sorry?"

"I mean, I've never seen you in Gate so, did a lone Light Keeper raise you?" She urged.

"No." Matt replied bluntly. "My parents died when I was young. This is the first time I've seen or heard about supernatural creatures existing."

Silence fell across the room. It was so quiet that Matt could almost hear the confused glance Stephanie and Jason shared with each other. Matt watched Jason give a light shrug to Stephanie before gazing back to the screen. She then turned to Matt. "Sorry about that. Just us Light Keepers discussing Light Keeper business.

Matt slowly nodded, unsure if he fully believed what she just said. He shook off the thought and gave a tiny nod to Jason. "Sorry for interrupting you."

Jason murmured. "It's alright." Not taking his eyes of the laptop's screen, he continued. "We've been sent from Gate to find the supernatural creature causing the murders; then hopefully kill it."

Matt took a deep breath. "The killer's a supernatural monster?"

Stephanie nodded. "Yep. It can either be a ghoul, wendigo, demon, werewolf-"

Jason cut her off. "It's a wendigo Steph."

"Oh." She bit her lip. "It's a wendigo then."

Matt squinted. "What's that?"

Jason flipped his laptop around. A rangy creature with it's skin pulled across it's bones was on the screen. It's nails were long and corrupt looking and a pair of antlers sticking out of it's head, which looked stale and withered. It's eyes were sharp and glazed over and its lips curled back, revealing putrid yellow teeth. Matt swallowed thickly.

"That's a wendigo." Jason confirmed. "Creatures that were once human, but became cannibalistic and transformed into this abomination. The facts that the report said add up. They only hunt at night, they live either in dark, sheltered or abandoned places and they eat their prey alive."

Matt shivered. "That looks terrifying."

"What's more terrifying is that there's only one way to kill a wendigo." Stephanie added. "And that's by burning it alive."

"What about swords or knives?" Matt asked.

"They won't even graze the skin." Jason responded.

"Guns?"

"Won't pierce the skin, but a shotgun will stun it for a second."

Matt bit his lip. "And you guys  _hunt_ down and  _kill_ creatures like this? All the time?"

"God no!" Stephanie yelled. "Wendigos are a rare case. we normally hunt down vampires, trolls, werewolves, phantoms and witches. Wendigos, demons, ghoul and other Cannibalistic Monsters, not too often."

"You guys are brave." Matt muttered.

"That's what being a Light Keeper is about. Trying to get rid of monsters that may drive humanity to extinction." Stephanie grumbled. "I know you're quite late to the Light Keeper stuff, but after this do you want to come back with Jason and me to Gate? That way you'll get some training done."

Matt opened his mouth to reply but Jason snapped the laptop shut, causing Matt to glance at him with shock. "Steph grab the flamethrower and shot gun key chains. It's approaching ten o'clock, we need to go."

"Okay." She answered plainly before getting up and heading outside.

"I want to come with you two." Matt demanded. "I want to see what Light Keepers do to protect humanity."

Jason bit his lip, clearly in deep thought. He hesitated for replying. "Fine, just go grabbed a shot gun key chain from Steph."

Matt blinked with confusion. "How's a key chain going to help me?"

"I'll tell you on the way." He responded. 

 

Nate looked up at the moonlit sky. From what he could tell, it was roughly eleven. He stayed still, keeping quiet and his senses alert. _Waiting is the worst._ Nate sighed to himself. Time just seemed to slow down when Nate went hunting, it took ages for a human to walk into the forest, yet alone for Nate to locate it. Nate dug his nails into the raw bark of the tree he stood against. It wasn't too late, but Nate was growing impatient, especially since he couldn't walk out of the forest and around the streets without being seen by Normals thanks to his half humanness. _The wait will be worth it._ Nate told himself. _Just stay patient then you'll have a human to feast on very soon._ He could feel his mouth start to water at the thought. Nate closed his eyes. _The wait will be worth it_. His ears suddenly pricked up.  _Footsteps._ Nate focused, trying to work out where they were coming from. When he was sure he worked out the direction, Nate hastily climbed up the tree and headed into that direction. He slowed down once he could smell the warm flesh. He completely halted when he saw a teenage male human roaming through the dark wood.

"I told them it was a fucking hoax. I've walked around here for an hour and nothing has happen." The human grumbled. "I am completely fine!"

Nate couldn't help but let out a deranged laugh. He watched as the human whipped around gazing up at Nate in astonishment. "Famous last words my friend." Nate grinned, taking off his glasses and placing them delicately in his pocket. "Famous last words."


	4. First Glance

Matt trailed behind Stephanie and Jason as they cautiously roamed through the forest. It was gradually becoming darker as the night paced on. Stephanie and Jason then stopped, eyeing the trees around them nervously. Matt bit his lip. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny shot gun shaped key chain that Stephanie gave him and eyed it carefully.

"Remember, to activate the shot gun just twirl the key chain around and the weapon will materialise up from it." Stephanie reminded him quietly.

Matt nodded in understanding. Jason gave him a rough explanation on the key chains earlier. Key chains are small weapon shaped pieces of metal which when twirled around, summon the weapon it is shaped as. Matt clenched his hand tightly with the key chain inside it.  _I'm so scared_.  _Sure I asked to come but, I'm going up against a monster._

Matt's thoughts were interrupted by a blood curling scream. Matt pricked up his head, goosebumps decorating his neck and arms.

Stephanie whipped around. "Sound like it came from that direction." She spoke, her voice shaking slightly.

Jason quickly entered his hand in then out on his pocket. He spun his hand around and Matt watched in awe as a flamethrower materialised in his hand.

"We better hurry. If we do we might just be able to save the human the wendigo is attacking." Jason spoke promptly.

Stephanie and Matt nodded, rotating their own hands to summon their shot guns and hastily followed Jason through the sombre forest.

 

 

The human's attempt to scream was cut off as Nate roughly snapped his hand over the human's neck, as slammed his back into a tree. Nate watched in amusement as the human tried to pull Nate's hand away from his throat, struggling greatly. Nate dug his nails into his skin, causing the human to clenched his teeth in pain. Smirking, Nate bared his teeth, before burying his fangs into the male's shoulder. The human shrieked as he drew blood. Nate tore the flesh of his shoulder and blissfully chewed on the rich meat. The human's struggling became weaker as blood oozed from the bite on his shoulder. Nate wiped the blood leaking down the human's skin and licked it off of his fingers. He lent in, ready to take another large bit out of the human's shoulder. The moment his mouth met the human's skin, Nate heard a faint click. He suddenly froze.  _A shot gun._ Nate pulled his head away and glanced around the woods, his eyes eventually connected to a silver barrel poking through the trees. Letting go of the human, Nate instantly pulled away as a bullet fired, gently brushing Nate's arm as he leaped away. Nate flipped himself around and crawled up onto a tree branch. Nate looked down bitterly as three humans walked out into the clearing, a male and female, both holding a shot gun and a male with a flamethrower. Nate stiffened. _I need to be careful around him._   _Fucking Light Keepers._ Nate eyed the Light Keepers evilly, and they gave acid filled glance in return. Nate's attention snapped back to his prey as the injured human tried to stand up.

"Matt, help the Normal over there. Steph and I will handle the wendigo." The male holding the flamethrower ordered.

The other male nodded and ran to the wounded human. Nate was about to bolt after him but the other to Light Keepers pointed their weapons at him. Annoyed, Nate curled back his lips and screeched. The two lowered their weapons as the screech ached their ears and the Light Keeper running towards the injured human froze and covered his ears with his hands, closing his eyes as he did. Nate took this as an opportunity to run up to the male human, ready to slit is fingernails across the Light Keeper's throat.

"Matt!" The female yelled in warning.

 

 

"Matt!" Stephanie yelled. Matt opened his eyes to see the wendigo inches away from him. His eyes widened with fear. Matt tried to move away but his was completely frozen with panic, as he watched the ebony haired wendigo raise his hand, ready to slit his neck.

_Bang!_

Matt watched as the wendigo was flown back as a bullet from Stephanie's shot gun. The wendigo made a quick recovery and landed smoothly on his hands and feet. Stephanie ran up to Matt's side and helped him pick up the injured Normal on the grass. The wendigo looked up, exchanging his dark gaze between all three of them. Jason aimed the flamethrower at the rangy creature, who noticed just in time to jump out of the way. Matt and Stephanie dragged the human next to Jason and gently laid him down.

 

 _For fucks sake._ Nate thought with resentment as he watched the Light Keepers pull the Normal away and the female stood over him protectively, holding her shot gun. Nate glared at the Light Keepers, the one with the flamethrower scaring him the most; but his gaze kept falling on the other male- Matt, Nate believed his name was. Something about him kept his gaze drawn to him. He wasn't holding anything that could pose a threat to him. _So why am I staring at him?_ Nate realised that it wasn't the fact that he looked dangerous that drew his attention to Matt; but it was because he looked pretty cute. Brown, fluffy looking hair and brown glowing eyes- something about those just forced Nate's attention on the Light Keeper, however he wasn't completely sure why. Nate blinked then froze. The Light Keeper with the flamethrower had vanished.  _Shit! This is what happens when you're not paying attention to the threat Nathan!_ Nate spat at himself. Nate spun around and his vision met the other male Light Keeper, his flamethrower in reaching distance to Nate. "Shit!" Nate shouted as he tried to jump out the the flamethrower's radius. His head avoided the flames, however searing pain flowed up Nate's arm and side as the fire made contact with his skin. Nate howled in pain, but forced himself to forget about it and and scampered away.

 

Matt watched as the wendigo ran deep in the forest, the shadows consuming him as he left Matt's sight. He wasn't sure how to feel. Part of him was terrified after facing that monster, another part of him was pleased that they managed to save the Normal and one last part of him was confused. The wendigo and him had gazed at each other for a fair bit- and Matt was confused if that was meant to mean something or not. Matt looked up at Stephanie and Jason. Stephanie had more or less patched up the worst of the Normal's wound and was calling an ambulance on her phone. Jason shook his flamethrower, causing it to transform back into the key chain and placed it in his pocket.

His gaze fell in the direction where the wendigo ran off. "Something about that wendigo wasn't right."

Matt looked up at Jason. "What do you mean?"

"First of all, the wendigo still looked pretty human so I thought to begin with that this was a human still undergoing wendigo transformation- but." He trailed off for a moment. "He seemed to be pretty intelligent, although wendigos loose their human intelligence the moment they resort to cannibalism. So how he had human intelligence confuses me."

"Maybe he's just a smart wendigo?" Matt guessed.

Jason shook his head. "Abnormal wendigos aren't possible." He looked at Matt. "You saw the way the wendigo looked at you. Almost like he was thinking about you deeply. No wendigo's do that."

Matt fell silent as he focused on were the wendigo left.  _Was he thinking about me?_  Matt wondered.

 

Nate dragged himself through the forest, his arm and side in searing pain. He clutched his hand over his scorched arm and clenched his teeth, frowning.  _Damn it. I should of payed attention to the flamethrower wielding Light Keeper. What was I doing staring at the other Light Keeper?_  Nate's facial expression soften.  _I guess he was pretty adorable._ Nate felt himself blush lightly. He then shook his head vigorously. _No! What am I thinking?_ Nate continued walking until he arrived at the edge of the forest. He sighed and stopped. He pulled his glasses out of his pocket and placed them mildly on his face, then he gazed up at the sky. Nate eyed the stars and a small, friendly smile formed on his face. "I hope we meet again Matt." Nate said to himself out loud. "Even though we just met, something about you fascinates me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise, I'm not the best at writing action scenes.


	5. Memories Of Friends

Five days had passed since Nate and his four friends were dragged away by a creature that they couldn't see. His friends were gone, eaten. Nate was the last one alive. He laid face down on the frozen floorboards of the abandoned shed that he was moved to, the smell of rotten flesh and blood filled the room- but Nate sort of adapted to the smell so it didn't bother him too much. Two things bothered him the most; one being that amount of dismembered limbs lay around him, and the other being he couldn't see whoever was doing this. From what he could tell, whoever was doing this ate one of them each night, all of Nate's friends had already met their fates, Nate was fearfully waiting to meet his.

His stomach let out a weak grumbled. He was starving, dehydrated and exhausted. He didn't manage to get any sleep since he was pulled here and there was no water, no food- and Nate was slowly dying because of it. He ached all other, even breathing was painful. Blinking was all Nate could do which didn't ache. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to run. But, he couldn't. He was shaky, light headed and just moving a finger needed so much strength. _I'm_ _going to die here. There's nothing that's going to save me._  Nate froze when he felt something trail across the back of his neck. It felt like a fingernail, but he couldn't see anything. Unless the creature responsible for eating his friends, and him in a few seconds, was a tiny, very tiny thing; Nate couldn't see it. He then felt a skeletal hand grab his shoulder, which rolled him to his side. Nate swallowed thickly, anticipating what was about to happen to him. Nate closed his eyes. Whatever it was, he did't want to watch his flesh slowly get torn away. Nate kept his eyes close for about a minute. Nothing happened. He left his eyes close for roughly another minute. Still, nothing happened although the stink of flesh and blood got stronger. Taking a deep breath, Nate reopened his eyes. Nate felt sick. A rancid arm laid in front of him, the end of it made it clear to Nate that it had been ripped off of someone's body. Nate desperately wanted to vomit, but he had nothing inside of him to throw up. In fright, Nate eyed the arm, looking at the slightly torn skin and small amount of blood which was splattered on it. Then his stomach rumbled uncomfortably. Nate stiffened. It wasn't a rumble of pain, it was a rumble of  _hunger._

 _No. I can't eat that. I can't..._  Nate's body disagreed with his mind as every instinct told him to reach forward and tear into the flesh, to eat it. Nate bit his lip and shut his eyes, trying to fight the urge. _I can't..._ Five days without food, he was starving, his stomach slowly eating itself. He clenched his hands into fists, his nails digging to his skin.  _I can't... I need to eat..._ Nate sighed. Giving into his lust, he reached forward, grabbed the arm and pulled it in front of his face. He didn't allow himself to hesitate as he quickly dug his teeth into the flesh and took a bit. He hated himself, he felt sick, he wanted to immediately throw it back up; but he forced himself to chew it. It wasn't until he swallowed that the felt different. He no longer felt shaken up, his mind no longer retaliated. Instead is mind set completely changed.  _Flesh. Flesh. Hunger. Need flesh._ Nate heavily sighed, before putting his mouth back against the arm and eating at it blissfully. After finishing, Nate let out a sigh of relief. His hunger wasn't perfectly satisfied, but he decided it would be enough for now. He needed rest. Nate curled himself in a tight ball and let sleep consume him. After this Nate never felt human again.

 

Nate opened his eyes. He was still inside the abandoned shed, asleep on the cold boards beneath him. However he seemed to be in a different room then he was last night. Nate yawned, raking his hand through his messy hair. Nate flinched when is fingers touch something wooden. Nate placed is had gently on his head. He felt two little stumps on his head.  _What's this?_  Nate got up onto his bare feet. When he did, he noticed his hand was a lot paler, and his fingernails had grown out a bit. He touched it to find that the skin felt tough and tight, Confused, Nate took a deep breath before walking out of the room he was in. He barely poked his head in the door when is eyes fell on a lean, pale skinned, creature with antlers, and long fingernails. Nate took a step back. The creature snapped around and look at Nate. Nate gulped, ready to sprint out of here.

"You're finally awake?" The creature growled.

Nate blinked at it, unsure on what to say.

"You've been asleep for a few days, you're probably starving." The creature carried on.

It wasn't until the creature mentioned the word starving, Nate realised how hungry he was. He moved his hand over his chest. Nate lightly nodded in response.

"Well don't worry, just wait a few more minutes then will go hunting."

Nate looked at the creature. "Hunting?" Nate surprised himself when he growled out the response.

"Yes. It's what wendigos do. Hunt down humans."

Nate stiffened. "Humans?"

"Oh I forgot. You're still new to this. You still undergoing wendigo transformation." The wendigo walked over to Nate. "Call me Hunter. Mind telling me your name?"

Nate didn't answer right away. "Nate." He then said after a while.

"Well Nate, you've got quite a lot to learn. Follow me." Hunter ordered.

Hunter walked out of the door and Nate hesitantly followed him. It was night time but Nate found that he could almost see clearly, almost as if he had night vision. Nate looked up to Hunter. "So what happened to me?"

"You converted to cannibalism." Hunter replied. "And now you're going through wendigo transformation."

Nate tilted his head. "Is that what you are?"

"Yep. A human who resorted to cannibalism out of starvation and now eats humans to survive"

"Are you the one who ate my friends then?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that. Kinda needed to eat. I did the same thing to them that I did to you. I put a human arm in front of them to see if they would eat it, but you were the only one who did." Hunter went silent for a moment for continuing. "I'm quite happy that you did. I've got someone to hang around with now. If your friends did eat the arm also then I would have a pack, but just you is fine."

Nate looked down to his feet. He should be torn up about his friends being dead, he should hate this monster that ate them, but he didn't feel anything. He could barely remember his friends faces.

"Don't be like that. I promise you'll get use to this wendigo stuff in no time." Hunter reassured.

Nate nodded lightly before looking up at him. "If you say so."

Hunter then beckoned him to be quite. "Our words may sound like English to us but to humans they sound like screeches and glows, so try and keep your voice down."

Nate nodded in understanding. He followed hunter, who climbed high up a tree. Nate followed him and rested on a tree branch just beneath him. They both looked down to the forest. Nate felt his ears prick up as he heard voices. Two humans, one male and one female then emerged into in view.

"That was a lot quicker than normal." Hunter muttered. He looked down to Nate. "Okay, now we need to drag them back to the shed without killing them. We don't want to kill them otherwise they'll go cold and rotten, we want them warm and alive. We also don't want them screaming to much, we don't wan to attracted too much attention."

"So how do we do all of that?" Nate questioned.

"We'll jumped down and use on hand to cover their mouth and we drag them with the other. I'll go for the female; you go for the male"

At that moment Hunter leaped down and snapped his hand around the humans mouth. Nate trailed behind him and mimicked what he did to the male human. They dragged the two hastily to the shed. Hunter threw his human to the ground and place on of his feet over their neck and Nate did the same to his one. The humans shrieked and Nate noticed both were eyeing him sourly.

"Who the hell are you?" The female question fearfully.

"What the fuck do you want with us?" The male blurred out.

Nate noticed that they didn't seem to see Hunter. "How come they see me but they don't see you?"

"Because as you're going under wendigo transformation you're technically half human, half wendigo. When you've finished and become a full wendigo in about six months time, you won't be seen or heard by humans, except by Light Keepers."

"Light Keepers?"

"Lesson for another day." Hunter replaced his foot on the human's neck with his hand. "We'd better eat before they wake up the entire city." An with that Hunter dug his teeth into his food shoulder.

Nate was hesitant. He looked into the human's terror filled eyes. Nate breathed before digging his teeth in the man's shoulder. The moment the flesh and blood met Nate's lip's his hunger erupted and it wasn't long before he was tearing skin off from all over the human. He finished in a handful of minutes and then sat down, licking the remaining blood around his lips. He sighed with relief. "That was nice." He breathed.

Hunter laughed. "Good. We'll do this every night together. Okay?"

Nate pushed his glasses up his nose. "Okay." Nate echoed as he looked up at the broken roof of the shed. He closed his eyes ready to go to sleep for the morning.

 

Nate opened his eyes. He was on the ground at the edge of the forest, the sun setting.  _Shit, how long was I asleep for?_   Nate scrambled to his feet and looked around.  _I need to get out of here. The Light Keepers know that I live here now._ _But I can't just walked through the city._ Nate growled. "It's been five years. Why am I still going through wendigo transformation? You said it would take six months Hunter." Nate then felt pain in his chest.  _Hunter._ The wendigo who had helped him survive for five years. He had helped Nate learn how to hunt, the best way to eat a human. Then three months ago a group of experienced Light Keepers came and burned down the shed that he and Nate lived in. Hunter and Nate tried to fight them off but Hunter begged Nate to run away. Nate obeyed his friend's wishes but watched as Hunter was slain in the process. Nate bit his lip. trying to withhold the memories flooding within him. "I will avenge you Hunter. I promise that I will make those Light Keepers suffer."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just letting you guys know that this won't be updated for the rest of today and probably not tomorrow since life is a thing that happens. I might be able to do a chapter late tomorrow but I can't promise anything. Anyway hope you liked Nate's little backstory.


	6. New Surroundings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me editing this chapter. :)

"Matt. Wake up, it's time to go."

 Matt opened his eyes slowly. He was back in his house, lying in his bed. Jason sat on the end of it, eyeing Matt sleepily.

"Alright, just give me a minute." Matt muttered.

"Don't be too long." Jason replied, getting up and walking out of the room.

Yawning, Matt glancing at him as Jason left the room. He picked himself up, giving his arms a stretch, before getting up to get dressed. From what he could recall, the wendigo ended up escaping, the Normal was taken to a hospital, Stephanie and Jason stayed at Matt's for the remainder of the night, and today they were going to take him to Gate. Matt gazed thoughtfully up at the ceiling. _I wonder what it would be like._ He was also pleased that Jason confirmed that he could come back and visit Alex and Kelly every now and then. He walked out of the room to find Stephanie and Jason waiting for him. They exchanged nods with each other before exiting the house. Stephanie strolled over to Peepachu, then looked back at Jason and Matt.

"One dragon can only carry a maximum of two people at a time. I'll fly Peepachu to Gate and Jason, can you take Matt through the tube station?"

Jason nodded in reply. Matt watched as Stephanie hauled herself on top of the gold scaled dragon, tapping it lightly with her foot and they flew away, with Matt gazing after them in awe.

Jason tapped his shoulder. "Follow me."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Stephanie said to take me through a tube station but I'm pretty sure they aren't any tube stations here."

"It's hidden." Jason answered. "Many shops or cafes have an entrance to it, but you can't get in without a Light Keeper ID Card, so that way Normals and aggressive monsters can't get in."

They started walking. Matt looked up at Jason. "By the way you said 'aggressive monsters', I presume there are at least some friendly monsters?"

Jason nodded. "Yes. Light Keepers have found out that all the supernatural beings are split into five categories. Passive Monsters, Tamable Monsters, Neutral Monsters, Dangerous Monsters, and Cannibalistic Monsters. Passive Monsters are creatures such as faeries, angels, and fawns. They help us find and defeat the more threatening monsters- They all have their own areas to live in inside of Gate as well. Tamable Monsters are stuff like dragons, phoenixes, and unicorns. They can be quite a problem, but they're brilliant to have at your side once you tame them. Neutral Monsters are creatures that won't bother us unless we bother them- trolls, spirits, and giants. Dangerous Monsters are, well the name's pretty self explanatory, stuff like werewolves, witches, ghosts, and shape shifters. Finally; Cannibalistic Monsters are the supernatural beings which are life threatening to humanities existence. In only three years, Cannibalistic Monsters such as vampires, demons, ghouls and wendigos, have already wiped out eight percent of humanity."

"That's a lot of information to take in." Matt swallowed. "Wait; if wendigos are Cannibalistic Monsters, then why did we leave the one in the forest without killing it?"

"Well for one, I didn't want to burn down the entire forest, since Passive Monsters normally live in woods and two, I think we need to keep that wendigo alive."

"Why?"

"Because that wendigo was a lot different from the ones that I've seen in the past. I'm going to ask the boss if it's possible to track it down and capture it."

Matt opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. The two stayed silent as they walked on. It wasn't long until they approached a small coffee shop. They strolled in and Jason went over to the counter. He pulled a silver card out of his pocket, which Matt guessed was his Light Keeper ID card, and passed it to the female staff member behind it. She looked over it before, giving an approving nod before unlocking a metal door behind her. Jason opened the door and Matt followed, receiving a glance from the staff member.

"He's with me." Jason spoke quickly.

The staff member gave a tiny 'ah' sound and gestured for Matt to continue. They entered the door and walked into a dimly lit train station with a plain train, quietly sitting at the station and a few windows scattered across it. Jason and Matt wandered over to it and entered it. Matt looked to his left, only to see a person with tiny horns, fluffy ears, brown, horse-like legs, and miniature tail. _A fawn?_  Matt guessed. Jason sat down on one of the many available seats around, and Matt followed him, sitting next to the Light Keeper.

"Destination?" The fawn question.

"Gate, Main Building." Jason replied.

The fawn nodded, giving a friendly smile. "Okay train, take us to the Main Building within Gate." He called out. 

Matt felt the train shake; before it began to move. He felt the speed steadily pick up and the light inside the train increased as it came out of the station. Matt's eyes widened in amazement. He got up and stared in astonishment at the world outside the window. Everything had completely changed. Lush green grass, towering trees, and beautiful blue skies decorated with clouds. Matt watched as yellow lights flew by the window. Looking closer, he saw that they were faeries, gracefully flying in the gentle wind.

"That's the Passive Monster district." Jason spoke, walking up next to Matt.

Matt gaped. "It's beautiful." He continued to gaze outside the window, taking in the amazing and breathtaking scenery. It quickly disappeared as they entered a cave, blocking all the light for a moment. The train then exited the cave and Matt found himself staring at an enormous city, with many other tube stations built into it, many colourful, soaring buildings dominating the view, and tons of people walking around outside.

Jason smiled at Matt. "Welcome to Gate."

 

 

 

Nate limped around the alleyways of the town. Forced to leave the forest, he had stumbled into a nearby town and hidden himself within a shadowy, thin, alleyway. Nate aggressively bit his lip. He need to find someone to eat. If a wendigo didn't eat anything in three day, they would painfully starve to death. Nate has been without food for roughly two days. He was slowly losing strength; his burnt arm and side weren't helping. Those burns had ended up eating away a few layers on his skin, leaving it sore and crimson red. His t-shirt and jeans was also ripped and seared at the edges. He forced himself to inhale. _Come on. I need to see if I can find someone._   He told himself. He shut his eyes and let his senses grow stronger.

 "Okay Becky, I'll talk later."

There. Nate poked his head slightly around the corner, where he was hiding. A female human was strolling down, talking on one of the slabs of metal that Nate had seen so many people walking around with. He remembered having one when he was human, but he couldn't remember the name of it. Nate limped back into the darkness of the alleyway, taking a large breath, trying to think of a voice he had heard in the past. _It's been awhile since I've mimicked someone's voice, hope I still got it._  "Help! Somebody, please!" A female, human voice escaped Nate's throat.

He heard the other female human stiffen. "Hello?"

"Hello? Please help me." Nate begged, attempting to sound shaken up. He moved himself behind a grey cylinder, which he saw humans throw their waste inside.

Footsteps became gradually louder.

"Hello?" The female human called.

"Please help."

The footsteps became heavier, Nate watching as the female human came into view. With the small amount of strength he had left, Nate pounced, snapping his hand around her mouth and ripping out a mouthful of flesh from her shoulder. Rapidly, he consumed almost the entire body and sighed joyfully. His sigh was immediately followed by a light hiss of pain as his arm reminded him of the burn on it; by sending a terrible ache through his skin. _I really need to find some sort of healing cream for this burn before it becomes infected._


	7. Gate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Nate continued to limp deeper into the maze of alleyways. His arm was practically dead and his side was all burnt up. He managed to satisfy his hunger, but if he didn't do something soon, his burn was going to be the death of him. Nate grumbled. _Where the fuck am I suppose to find some healing cream for this?_ Tiny, bright lights swiftly flew in front of him. Faeries. An idea then clicked into his mind. Picking up his pace, Nate raced after the soaring faeries, who didn't notice him until he got close to them.

 

"Wendigo!" One of them screamed. They all attempted to scatter away into the sky. Nate leaped forward and cupped his hands over the lights. He felt his hands snatch one of the faeries and grip them tightly. Nate opened his hands, using his fingers to hang the fairy by one of its delicate wings. It was a female faerie, with short brown hair and glowing eyes. She struggled to break from his grasp.

"Let go, you cannibalistic bastard!" She spat.

Nate eyed her evilly, a grin widening on his face. "Quite a dirty mouth from such a cute little thing."

The fairy's eyes widened. "You- You can speak human?"

Nate smirked. "Yes I can. I don't really know how, so don't ask." 

"And you can understand the human language?"

"Yes, again, I'm not too sure on why."

The fairy kicked wildly in the air. "Good to know, now let me go!"

Nate put pressure between his fingers, crushing the fairy's wing, who yelped in pain.

"Just hear me out for a moment." Nate demanded. "You're from Gate right?"

The fairy swallowed. "Yes."

Nate's grin became bigger as he watched fear pile into her eyes. "I want you to send a message to the leader for me."

 

 

 

The train pulled to a stop. The doors swung open and Matt stepped out eagerly, Jason trailing behind him. A fairly large building, which looked like an office, stood in front of them. Matt eyed the scenery around him, the neatly trimmed grass, the trees visible in the distance, and the flowers that decorated the greenery. Jason walked past him and up to the door of the building and knocked at it lightly. The door opened almost immediately and a male with green hair and icy blue eyes stood before them.

"Jack." Jason greeted.

"Good to see you, Jason." Jack greeted in return. He then turned to Matt. "Who are you?"

"I'm Matthew. Call me Matt." He replied.

"Nice to meet you both. Come in." Jack invited. Jason and Matt walked inside. The building was nice inside, with cream coloured walls and a mystical looking carpet on the floor. A flaming chandelier hung above them, giving off a large amount of light, and a spiral staircase swirled around it.

"So what are you two here for?" Jack questioned.

Jason pointed to Matt. "I've come to register Matt in for Light Keeper training, and talk to the boss about something." He answered.

Jack blinked at Matt. "This is your first time at Gate?"

Matt nodded.

"Wow, you've got a lot to learn." Jack muttered. "Follow me to AJ then." He walked up the staircase.

Matt went to follow him, Jason behind him. They arrived at the top of the staircase, which led straight to a chocolate brown door.

Jack walked over to the door. "AJ, you've got visitors."

"Bring them in." A light voice replied. Jack threw open the door and Matt and Jason padded in. AJ sat on a couch behind a desk, eyeing some pieces of paper, before looking up at the two. He had short light brown hair and dark coloured eyes.

He smiled at them. "Hey Jason, hey new person, I'm AJ." He introduced himself happily.

"I'm Matt." Matt spoke quickly.

AJ nodded in acknowledgement. "Nice to meet you. I'm guessing you're here to be assigned to a group and to learn about Light Keeper laws and stuff."

"Yes." Matt responded simply.

AJ looked at his papers, quickly skimming the words on the page. "Jason." He spoke. "How did the forest hunt with you and Stephanie go?"

Jason swallowed. "Well, the monster turned out to be a wendigo but we didn't kill it."

AJ raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Something about it seemed odd. I wanted to possibly ask you and other higher ups to think about capturing it."

AJ bit his lip. "Okay, let me sort out Matt here then we'll talk about it."

Jason nodded. "Yes sir."

AJ turned to Matt. "So Matt, did you have any Light Keepers in the family?"

"I don't know." Matt replied blandly. "I was an only child, both of my parents died when I was very young, and I never met any other relatives."

"Huh." AJ muttered. "So this is your first look at Gate?"

"Yes- Yes sir."

"You don't have to call me sir, it makes me feel old." AJ snorted. "Anyway, as you've already met Jason and Stephanie, you might as well join their squad."

Matt blinked. "How do you know that?"

"Steph came by earlier and told me that they met a Light Keeper who was coming back with Jason." AJ answered. He glanced at Jason. "You're okay with Matt joining your squad, right?"

"No problem at all, he'll be welcomed." Jason answered cheerfully.

"You'll be working with me as well." Jack told Matt. "Mark is also part of our squad, but he's out on a demon hunt so you won't see him for a awhile."

Matt nodded. "Sure, I'll be looking forward working with you guys."

They all smiled. AJ turned, leaned down, and opened one of the drawers in the table. He pulled out a set of keys and threw them to Matt, who caught them clumsily.

"Those will be the key to your room and here's a random question; name any weapon." AJ said quickly.

Matt tilted his head slightly. "A sword." He responded, unsure why he was asked to name a weapon in the first place.

AJ reached into the drawer again and pulled out something else. He then got up and walked over to Matt. He was a bit smaller than Matt but only by a tiny amount. He then reached his hand out, Matt's eyes widening as he saw a sword shaped key chain in his hands.

"This will be your main combat weapon, you'll have training in other weapons but everyone needs to have their own specific weapon too." AJ explained.

Matt slowly moved his hand and grabbed to sword shaped key chain. "Thank you." He said. He went to place it in his pocket, but a rapid banging on the window behind AJ's desk caused him to freeze.

Jack rushed over to the window. "It's Morgan!"

"Morgan?" AJ cocked his head to one side.

Jack opened the window and Matt watched as a tiny winged female with short brown hair flew in. _She must be a faerie._  Matt thought.

"AJ!" Morgan yelled. She then fell onto the desk and Matt noticed that one of her wings was broken and cramped up.

"Morgan, what happen to you?" AJ asked, rushing over to her.

The fairy looked up to AJ, her eyes wide with terror and she breathed heavily. "I was flying with my friends through the human streets, then a wendigo snatched me in its bony hand and-"

"A wendigo?" Jack raised a puzzled eyebrow. "What the fuck's a wendigo doing in a street?"

"I don't know!" Morgan yelled. "But it wasn't a full wendigo- it looked really human, he had black hair, glasses- and he spoke!"

AJ blinked with confusion. "Spoke?"

"Yes! It spoke in human, it understood the human language and could speak it!"

Jack bit his lip. "Shit. Well... What did it want with you?"

Morgan looked at AJ. "He wants to make a deal with you." 

"A deal?" AJ asked in a hoarse voice.

Morgan just nodded rapidly in reply.

AJ hesitated. "What was the deal?"

"He wants some healing cream for the extreme burns that he has across his arm and side and in return he'll give us a location to a demon hideout and a vampire hideout."

Matt stiffened. Burns across his arm and side. That's where Jason burned the wendigo in the forest. He swallowed. _Is it the same one?_ Matt looked at Jason uncomfortably, who returned his look with a glance that was just as uncomfortable as Matt's.


	8. Night of Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)  
> Also uploads should roughly be daily

"Nate, wake up."

Nate's eyes snapped open when he heard Hunter's stern growl. He was curled up in a ball under the broken roof of the shed, the light of the sun burning through. Nate squinted at it. "It's still daylight." He groaned.

"Get your ass over here. There are Light Keepers coming." Hunter ordered.

Nate got up instantly, picking up his glasses and pushing them onto his nose. Light Keepers?  "How many?"

"I sense about six." Hunter answered.

Nate swallowed.  _Fuck, that's a lot of Light Keepers._  He had dealt with Light Keepers before, but normally there were either two or four and Hunter and him could handle them. Six was a pretty scary number of Light Keepers. He walked over to Hunter and looked out of the shed. They weren't in sight yet, but Nate could smell them. Nate looked up at his friend. "What are we going to do?"

"Kill them." Hunter growled simply.

"But there are six of them!" Nate argued.

"I didn't say we had to do six verses two, did I?" Hunter shot back.

Nate opened his mouth to argue, but no words came out. "No." He murmured after a while. "So what's the plan?"

"We'll split up and try and drive them away from each other. I'll screech to get attention to me, you'll do the same, and hopefully three of them will come to me and three will come to you. Once you've killed your three, we'll meet up back here."

Nate blinked. "We will get through this, won't we?"

Hunter grinned at Nate. "Of course we will. If you need help just give the deafening screech and I'll come and protect you."

Nate nodded. "Okay."

Hunter nodded in reply before darting off into the woods ahead of him. Nate rushed behind him, turning to the left slightly to avoid running into him. He halted and looked around. The sun blazed through the trees and he shielded his eyes with his arm. Nate hated the warmth of it. The sun obscured his vision in the day slightly, but at the same time, something deep inside of him liked the sun. The warmth of it gently brushing his skin and the colours that it used to fill the sky. Nate moved his arm and continued moving. He heard Hunter give a screech in the distance and when it faded away, Nate screeched himself. After doing so he stopped, settled onto a tree branch, pricked his senses up and waited. When he didn't hear or smell anything around him, Nate drummed his fingers against the bark.

"I'm sure the screech came from this way!"

Continuing to drum his fingers on the branch, Nate pricked his ears up.

"Well there were two screeches, so that means there are two wendigos. That's why we sent Ronnie, Anima, and Andrew to the other screech and that's why we're investigating this one."

_Well, the splitting them up went better than I expected._ Nate thought. He stopped drumming his fingers when he saw three male Light Keepers emerged through the trees. Nate shivered when he saw all three of them had flamethrowers. _How the fuck am I going to do this? If I get caught in any of the flames, I'm dead._ Taking a deep breath, Nate looked around at his surroundings, working out the best way to deal with the life or death situation in front of him. He'd probably have to instantly kill them one by one. It would be too dangerous to keep three flamethrower wielding Light Keepers alive for too long. _I'll have to try and kill each one the second I'm given the opportunity_. Nate decided. He focused on the male with dirty blondish hair and a beard. Nate crouched down on the branch, steadying himself, ready to pounce. Baring his teeth, Nate launched himself at the Light Keeper. However, during his pounce, he rustled some leaves, making the human aware of his presence. The dirty blonde Light Keeper whipped around as Nate reached his claw-like fingernails to his neck. The Light Keeper brought his flamethrower up to his throat to shield it and Nate's hand made contacted with the cold metal.

"Rhett!" 

Nate's eyes darted as a dark haired male with glasses pointed his flamethrower towards him. He hastily jumped away as flames erupted from it, the deadly heat just inches away from hitting his skin, and let the surrounding trees swallow him, hoping that they couldn't see him. He moved around quickly but quietly, watching the Light Keepers cautiously.

"Rhett and Link, go back through the forest to see if you can find the others and help them with that wendigo." The black hair and beard Light Keper ordered. Nate presumed he was the squad leader.

"Jirard, we can't leave you alone with a wendigo." Link raised a concerned eyebrow.

"I'll be find, it's not even a pure wendigo, its a human going through wendigo transformation so it'll be at its weakest. I'll be able to handle this one on my own."

Rhett shrugged. "If you're sure. Come on, Link."

Link still looked doubtful, but he followed Rhett anyway. Jirard then looked around the forest and settled his eyes on where Nate was hiding. "I know you're there, wendigo." He taunted. 

Nate let a low hiss escape him. _Th_ _is guy's well trained. He knew where I was just by scanning the area._

"It's just you and me. Let's make this quick, agreed?" Jirard challenged.

Nate dropped down from his branch, landing on his palms and feet. He got up and looked harshly into the Light Keeper's gaze. Nate smiled weakly, reaching for his glasses, pulling them off and placing them in his pocket. The two opposing species stared at each other, sending threatening gazes to each other.

 

Jirard then raised his flamethrower. "I feel pity for you guys, so desperate for food that you end up committing cannibalism, but I can't let you grow into a savage monster. I know you don't understand me, but I'm afraid this is where it ends for you."

_You have no idea_. Nate thought. He understood every word that the human spoke, he just couldn't speak back. Hunter told him that he was special for being able to understand humans, though it would probably fade away once he became a pure wendigo. Nate shook the thought, before curling his lip and charged at the Light Keeper. He swiftly swirled around him, aiming his nails to the humans neck, but Jirard blocked the hit with his flamethrower. Almost instantly, Nate threw multiple fast kicks and punches, but they were all blocked in succession. Jirard drove his knee up and hit Nate in the stomach with it. Nate flew back a small bit but promptly landed and went for the throat again. This time, his fingernails connected with skin, but he wasn't close enough to leave a deep wound, it was more like a cut that you would get from a piece of paper. Nate skidded around to face the Light Keeper, only to find himself looking right into the face of a flamethrower, hungry to his skin. Panicking, Nate rolled out of the way, but he wasn't too lucky as he felt the flames burn the skin on his back. He clenched his teeth and forced himself to ignore it. He rushed at the human again, bringing his leg around and hooked it around Jirard's neck. Nate used his strength to sock him to the ground. Jirard was shocked, but remained calm. Nate brought his foot up, ready to slam it painfully into the Light Keeper's skull. Jirard waved his hand and a shot gun materialised in his hand. _Shit._  Nate attempted to flip out of the way, but the shotgun's bullets drove into his foot and threw him back against a solid tree. Nate hit it with a 'thud' before falling face first onto the earth. He tried to push himself up onto his feet, but he then froze. He couldn't move his hands, body, feet- anything. His body felt full of electricity. Nate swallowed. Paralysis bullet. Fear filled him. He desperately tried to move, forcing every muscle in his body to try and move. He couldn't nudge himself at all. Please. Nate begged himself to move. Footsteps approached him, who looked up to see Jirard standing over him, the flamethrower pointed at him.

"Farewell." Jirard commented softly.

Nate bared his fangs at the Light Keeper. "See you in hell." Nate froze when a human voice escaped his throat. Where did that come from? It wasn't any of the voices that he's mimicked in the passed- it was his voice, the voice he had when he was human.

Jirard eyes widened. "You can speak?"

_Apparently._  Nate dug his fingernails into the dirt. The Light Keeper was distracted, he had a chance. Bracing his own ears, Nate curled his lips back and let a blaring screech ring out. Jirard was forced to let go of his weapon to plug his ears as Nate's screech became vociferous and deadly. His voice became strained pretty quickly though. _Please work._  Nate had to stop his screeching as his throat pulsated heavily and his breathing becoming harsh. He tried to move his body, though the paralysis still held onto him tightly. _Shit. I'm dead._  He gazed up at Jirard, who had recovered from Nate's screech, the flamethrower pointing at his head.

"You're pretty smart." Jirard commented. "But this is where it ends for you."

"Bastard." Nate snarled.

"Jirard!" A voice echoed.

Jirard reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny black box. "What is it Ronnie?"

"The wendigo we were fighting has run off! A loud screech went off and it just bolted!"

_Hunter!_  Nate felt relief fill him and a grin formed on his face. Jirard eyed him fearfully. "You two are friends." Nate heard him mutter.

At that moment, Hunter exploded from the forest and leaped onto Jirard. The two rolled around on the floor, swiping and trying to fight each other off. Nate then felt the electricity within him fade away. He scrambled up onto his feet, ready to pounce.

"Nate!" Hunter snarled. "Head back to the shed!"

"But all six Light Keepers are still alive!" Nate responded sharply, his voice back to its harsh sounding growl.

"Change of plan, head back to the shed. I'll meet you there in a bit then we're both getting the fuck out of here!" Hunter snapped.

Nate watched as Jirard wrestled free from Hunter's grasp.

Hunter circled the human. "Go, Nate! Now!"

Nate hesitated, before respecting his friend's wish. He turned around and jumped up a tree. He maneuvered for a few seconds before looking back at Hunter one last time- he had looked back at the wrong time. Nate's eyes widened as he watched the wild flames devour Hunter, eating away his skin and screams. "Hunter!"

 

 

"Hunter!" Nate snapped awake. He was lying behind grey cylinders within a compacted alleyway. Nate swallowed nervously, his body shaking violently as the memories played vividly in his mind. Nate brushed his arm over his eyes. He was filled with surprise as liquid met his skin. He pulled his arm away. Two small, damp marks were on his arm- his eyes also felt wet and misty.

"Tears?"


	9. Preparation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

"You're seriously considering this deal?" Jack asked, raising a puzzled eyebrow.

Matt watched as AJ paced up and down his office, his hand on his chin thoughtfully. Matt wasn't paying full attention to the conversation unravelling in front of him; instead, he was thinking about the wendigo that he had encountered with Jason and Stephanie. What he could remember of the one he saw, matched the description of the one offering two Cannibalistic Monster hideouts for healing cream- black hair, human-like appearance. Matt couldn't help but think if it was the same one. He looked up to see that Jack, AJ, Jason, and Morgan were all eyeing him, waiting for his response to a question that he most likely missed.

Matt felt embarrassed. "Sorry, can you repeat that?"

 

AJ sighed. "I said, can you go with Jack to go and get supplies for your Light Keeper training? Jason and I will discuss this situation on our own."

Matt nodded. "Sure." He looked over to Morgan, who was sitting on the desk, waving her feet in the air.

"She'll most likely stay there." Jack told him.

Matt nodded again. Jack opened the door and the two walked out and down the spiral staircase.

Jack exhaled. "Well, this will be fun. We need to get you a crap ton of stuff for your Light Keeper training."

Curiosity shone in Matt's eyes. "What do I need?"

Jack listed items off his fingers as he spoke. "Spell books, holy water, enchanted crosses, silver charms, iron and metal knives, necklaces of resistance, night vision shit, flares, books which have the basics of each monster and monster category, get your weapon enchanted, see if get you can get a familiar- and if you want to raise a Tamable Monster, then we'll need to get you a monster egg as well."

"Jesus." Matt commented.

"I don't think he'll fit on the list."

Matt laughed and Jack smirked at his own joke. They walked out of the building and walked into the station and into the tube.

"Gate, shopping district." Jack told the fawn standing at the door of the train. The fawn nodded and repeated the destination to the train. Jack wandered over to the seats and gestured Matt to follow him. "The shopping district's a good few stops away, sit down for awhile."

Matt took the offer and sat next to Jack. He quickly scanned the train around him, some other Light Keeper's sat on the train, minding their own business. Matt eyed Jack. "Am I allowed to ask a few questions?"

The Irishman nodded. "Sure thing."

"So can you tell me the basic rules about this place?"

"They aren't really any rules here, honestly. The main two are to not enter an area which is restricted to you and if you go out of Gate, you must be with at least one of your squad members or a higher up." He paused for a second. "There are five ranks: One Star, Two Star- all the way up to Five Star. One Star Light Keepers are the beginners, Two Star Light Keepers are those who can start to go out on simple missions, Three Star Light Keepers can go on more advanced missions, Four Stars can become teachers, and Five Star Light Keepers can become leaders."

"I presume AJ's a Five Star Light Keeper?"

"Yep, and he's leader of Gate. This isn't the only Light Keeper city though; Gate just one of many. There's also Harmony, Opal, Sol, and Thunder."

Matt felt like a little kid being told a fairy tale; he felt all giddy inside. This time Jack asked him a question. "When we get to the shopping district, do you want a Tamable Monster egg or are you good for the moment?"

Matt tilted his head. "That's like dragons, phoenixes and stuff right?"

"Yeah."

Matt bit his lip as he thought. "I might get one later. I don't want to go into that on my first day." The train stopped for a second and the doors flew open. One of the Light Keepers on board walked off before the doors slammed shut and the train began moving again. Matt blinked. "You mentioned about getting me a familiar, isn't that like a Tamable Monster?"

Jack shrugged. "I'm not too sure. Familiars aren't really 'monsters' as such. Only Light Keepers with strong souls and a steady aura can have a familiar, since they're made up of a fragment of the Light Keeper's soul. Depending on the Light Keeper's personality, the familiar can have different abilities from healing, to fighting, to walking across lava, to flying."

"Do you have a familiar?"

"Yes. He's a small green floating eyeball that I named Sam. He's fucking badass; he makes it so I can see in the dark perfectly without night vision stuff."

"What about Stephanie and Jason?"

Jack shook is head. "I don't think either of them have a familiar." A small smile formed on Jack's face. "It's pretty rare actually, I only knew one other Light Keeper who had a familiar; but I haven't seen them in five years."

Matt raised an analytical eyebrow. "Who was that?"

"I believe his name was Nathan Sharp- he preferred Nate for short. He had a familiar which allowed him to understand every human and monster language, as well as speak them. He was supposed to come to Gate, after a camping trip with some of his friends, but he never returned from the trip." Jack trailed off. "I don't remember him too well since I met him when we were both thirteen years old, but I remember that he was a good kid; I hope wherever he is, he's resting well."

Matt placed his hand reassuringly on Jack's shoulder. "I'm sure he's alright." Silence fell across the two for the rest of the journey. The train finally halted and they got up. Matt followed the green haired male outside. The shopping district was enormous, shops stretched across the padded streets went on for what looked like miles, which had other Light Keepers roaming on them. Matt gawked at his surroundings.

Jack snorted. "You look like a kid who's seen a theme park for the first time."

"I definitely feel like it." Matt laughed.

Jack patted Matt's shoulder. "Anyway." Jack ruffled his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small list of books. He handed it to Matt and pointed at the shop with a purple banner over it. "Go there to get the books on the list. Don't worry, they don't cost anything as they're the basic stuff." Jack then opened his hand out. "Give me your weapon and I'll go get it enchanted for you, and I'll get you the knives, charms, and all that shit as well."

Matt rummaged in his pocket and pulled out the sword key chain and handed it to Jack. "Is there a reason why weapons have to be enchanted?"

"Enchanting weapons make them stronger. You can't just charge in a battle with a normal blade and expect it to do anything; these are supernatural creatures we're dealing with." Jack responded, taking the key chain out of Matt's hand.

"Fair enough." Matt muttered.

Jack then pointed to a yellow banner over a different shop. "After you get your books, go there to see if you can have a familiar. I'll meet you outside afterwards."

"Sure." Matt smiled and Jack gave him one in return before heading off into the crowd. Matt strolled and headed to the shop with the amethyst coloured banner over it. He opened the door, a peaceful bell went off to signal his entry. Matt walked in- it was almost like a library, bookshelves almost consuming every wall around him and a small desk in front of him.

"Hello, can I help you?" Matt looked up to see an Italian female with tidy, brown hair and a bright smile.

"Hi." Matt greeted. "I'm looking for these books." He handed her the list and she eyed them.

"The basic stuff huh? You're new here then?" She asked.

"Yes."

She smiled. "It's always great to have new Light Keepers join us at Gate. I may see you in lessons, the name's Marzia Bisognin."

"Matthew Patrick but call me Matt."

Marzia snickered. "Funny last name."

Matt snorted. "It's stupid, I know."

"Anyway Matt, stay here and I'll grab the books you need."

"Thank you."

Marzia walked off deeper into the maze of books. He did what he was told and stayed put, looking at the walls around him,

which were covered with pictures and posters. After a few minutes, Marzia came back, and pile of thick books in her grasp. She dropped them on the desk and checked through the list Matt gave her.

"Spells, cipher decoding, protective circles- Yep. That's all of them." She scrapped them into a bag. "Careful, it's heavy." She warned, handing the bag over to Matt. Matt grabbed the handle, and the bag almost dropped like a weight but Matt tightened his grip. Mariza laughed. "I told you." She handed back his list. "I may see you again soon."

Matt nodded. "Thank you, see you around." He smiled. He walked out of the door. The building with the yellow banner next. Matt reminded himself. He padded over to the shop, which was a few meters away, and pushed the door open. The shop was pretty small, it had a spiritual looking circle drawn on the floor and to the left was a longish desk with a man spinning around on the chair.

He noticed Matt, and stopped his chair. "Hello!" He spoke enthusiastically. "My name's Austin!"

"I'm Matt." Matt introduced. Matt then heard a soft squeak. He eyed the desk and his eyes widened with amazement as he saw a ghostly looking ferret slowly waking up on it.

"That's Pixel. She's my familiar." Austin explained, awkwardly getting up from his chair. "I guess you're here to see if you have one?"

Matt nodded. "What ability does she have?" Matt asked.

"Pixel gives me the ability to practically be a ninja. I can sneak around places really easily and without being noticed." Austin responded.

"Cool." Matt eyed the transparent rodent with awe.

"Come over here." Austin gestured. Matt did as he was told and stood in the middle of the crazy circle on the floor. "Don't worry if nothing happens, only about twenty percent of Light Keepers have the power to create a familiar. Now close your eyes."

Matt closed his eyes, unsure on what to expected.

"Now just breath and think of the one personality trait that you think describes you best."

Matt did as he was ordered. It wasn't long until he felt fur brush against his leg. He squinted his eyes open, to see a glassy cat on the ground.

"Wow, that was quick." Austin commented in a chipper tone as a smile spread on his face. "Cat familiar, you better take care of it, cat familiars have regeneration and healing powers and those can be really helpful."

"I can imagine." Matt smiled at his familiar, who gave a light mew. "I'll call you Skip."

"I still can't believe how quick that took; the only other person I know who created a familiar that quick was Nate."

Matt looked up at him. "Nathan Sharp?"

 Austin blinked. "You know him?"

"A friend told me a bit about him. I know he had a familiar which helped him speak and understand human and monster languages."

"Yep. His familiar was a dog named Bowser." Austin's smile faded. "Bowser was the only supernatural being he could see."

Matt raised an interested eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Despite both of his parents being Light Keepers, for some reason Nate couldn't see the supernatural side of the world, the hidden world. Bowser was the only supernatural being he could see. We were going to give him special training to see if his Light Keeper side would awaken when he came back from a camping trip with friends." Austin stopped.

Matt finished for him. "But he never returned from the camping trip."

Austin nodded. "You actually remind me of him a bit. Anyway- we're off topic." He walked back over to his desk and looked under it. He came back up with a small book. "This has everything you need to know about familiar behaviour and stuff."

"Thank you." Matt took the book and placed it in his bag, Skip gently brushing his leg.

"To call your familiar back, just whistle. You do the same to call them." Austin told him.

Matt whistled and watched as Skip vanished in a instant. "Thanks again."

"No problem." Austin waved his hand in goodbye as Matt left the shop. He stood outside it, waiting for Jack. Part of him wanted to go back in and question Austin about Nate, but he didn't want to pry into someone he doesn't know's life. _You actually remind me of him a bit._  Austin's words echoed in his mind. Matt cocked his head thoughtfully. _I wonder what happen to him?_

 


	10. New Begining

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Matt had to wait about ten minutes until Jack appeared in the crowd of people and walked over to him, carrying a good few bags full of Light Keeper equipment.

"Alright, I got your weapon enchanted, got you holy water, enchanted crosses, iron and metal knives, and all that other crap I told you about earlier." Jack paused for a moment to move his bags around, so he could grab Matt's sword key chain and pass it back to him. Matt took it gratefully and put it in his own pocket. "I see you got the book; what about a familiar?" He continued.

Matt nodded "Yes, I've got a cat familiar called Skip."

"Nice! Healing powers, I'm guessing?"

"Yep."

Jack smiled enthusiastically. "Great! Okay, let's head back and put this stuff in your room."

They started walking and Matt tilted his head. Jack then bit his lip. "Um, by any chance, you don't have anything against homosexuals, do you?"

Matt shook his head. "No, not at all."

Jack gave a sigh of relief. "Good."

Matt smiled, raising a eyebrow. "You're dating someone?"

Jack went a light shade of pink. "Yeah. I'm dating Mark, I think I mentioned him earlier."

Matt snickered. "That's cute. Since I haven't met Mark yet, do you mind telling me a bit about him?"

"He's actually our squad leader, he might not look like it to begin with since he's such a goofball, but he can have his serious moments. He's quirky, charming, stupid- but he's a good fighter."

"What's his and your main weapon?"

"Mark has an axe and I have a crossbow. Steph has a sword like you, and Jason has hand guns." Jack said before Matt could ask.

They continued to talk as they walked up to the tube station and entered a train, which had a few other Light Keepers on it. Jack told the fawn to go to the dormitories, the fawn obeyed and repeated the destination to the train. Jack and Matt sat down and Matt asked. "Where was it that you said Mark went?"

"He's been on a demon raid for a few days, he should be back either late today or early tomorrow." Jack answered.

"This is probably a stupid question, but what do you do on raids?"

"If there's a huge group of monsters where one squad won't be enough, AJ will send a mixture of Light Keepers which are Two Star ranked or higher to raid them. It's a great experience and lesson for the lower ranks and a tough case for the higher ranks. Mark just got lucky enough to be picked for it."

"What Star rank are you guys?"

"We're all Two Star, really close to becoming Three Star."

"I guess I'll be dragging you guys behind for awhile."

"Not at all! Just read through at least the basics and you'll catch up in no time."

Matt opened his mouth to speak, but a speaker inside the train went off, cutting him off from what he was about to say.

"Can Jon Jafari and his squad come over to my office please? So can Jon Jafari, Ian Macleod, James Caddick, Jared Knabenbauer and Austin Hargrave all come up to my office? Thank you."

Matt recognised AJ's voice from the speaker and listened as it clicked off; also in the corner of his eye Matt noticed a skinny male with fluffy brown hair and a light beard look up.

The fawn at the door of the train twitched her ear. "Is anyone on here one of those people?"

Matt and Jack watched as the male raised his hand. "Ian Macleod."

The fawn walked over to him and Ian passed her his ID card to her. She read it quickly before handing it back to him. "Train, please make a stop at Gate's main building first before heading to the other stops."

Jack blinked. "I wonder if this is to do with the deal that wendigo made."

"Might be." Matt shrugged.

"Well, whatever it is, it's pretty serious. That squad is high up in the Four Star rank."

"Have you met all or any of the other people being called to AJ's office?"

"I've met Austin, he's the head of the familiar shop, and I've seen the others around."

The train pulled to a halt as the doors opened to reveal the main building. Ian got up from his seat and walked out of the train. When he left, the doors closed and the train started up again.

"Sorry about that, the train will now go back to the other stops." The fawn apologised.

 

Fifteen minutes passed before the train halted at Jack and Matt's stop. They got off and wandered up to the building in front of them and entered, walking down the hallway. They stopped at one of the many doors.

"Can you check your room number? It should be on the key." Jack asked.

Matt rummaged his hand through his pocket and grabbed the key, he pulled it out and read the number engraved on it. "Two five one."

Jack walked a few more footsteps. "This is it then."

Matt strolled up to it and unlocked it. He pushed the door open. The room had a single bed, a wardrobe, a chair, a desk which had a computer sat on it, and a lot of drawers for storage. The floor was covered in an deep blue carpet and the walls were a nice cream colour. There was also a second door which led to a bathroom. Matt walked in and placed his bags by the side of the bed, Jack mimicking him.

Matt looked up at the green haired Light Keeper. "I appreciate the help Jack, but could I be left alone to unpack this myself?"

Jack blinked, looking a bit offended. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm a bit too organised for my own good so I may take ages to work out where I want to put everything and I don't want to waste your time." Matt replied.

The offended glaze in Jack's eyes faded. "Sure, thanks for saving me the trouble."

Matt snorted. Jack continued to speak. "I'll come by your room in about two hours with Steph and Jason and we can all go for dinner."

 "Sounds good." Matt nodded. "Thanks again." He waved at Jack, and he returned a wave bore leaving Matt's new room, closing the door behind him. Matt eyed his new room, rubbing his hands together. "I might be here a while."

 

 

 

"If I reached to the sky, would I ever take flight? And bloom without a single fear. If I reached out to that sky, would my heart come back to life like a lie?" Nate sung to himself softly in his human voice. He was sitting on a roof of one of the places that sat next to the alleyway that he was hiding in. He sat patiently, rocking his legs and watching the sky, waiting to see if any Light Keepers from Gate came about the deal. Nate sung quietly to himself again. "The one I left behind. His voice is gone along with mine. Something isn't right. Someone's inside, no longer can I fight. Did you forget? All the things that you had said. Please leave me be. The one you see really isn't me." Nate paused for a second. The only thing he could remember well from his human life was how much he enjoyed singing. He took a breath before continuing. "I've taken to the sky. The memories of yesterday are now gone. An empty shell was all that was left behind at dawn. How could I be so blind to ignore such a cry? I would rather watch that cold dream where I died." Nate drifted off at the end, closing his eyes gently.

 "This is where he was last time."

Nate felt his ears prick up as he heard the fairy from the other day. He opened his eyes and turned his head to the opening of the alleyway. Four male Light Keepers walked in it and Nate recognised the fairy sitting on, who Nate guessed was the squad leader's, shoulder. All the Light Keepers gazes became locked onto Nate's. He pushed his glasses up his nose, and leaped down onto the floor, keeping his eyes firmly on the Light Keepers. "Hello there." Nate spoke, using his human voice and trying to sound friendly. "What can I do for you guys?" Confusion filled Nate when he saw one of the Light Keepers, who had a transparent ferret sitting across his shoulders, eyed him curiously. _What's his deal?_  Nate did his best to ignore that Light Keeper and eyed the one directly in front of him, who was about his height.

"We've heard that you proposed a deal to us." One of the men spoke. He then pulled out a glass tub and Nate's eyes immediately locked onto the label around it. Severe burn cream. "No tricks. Show us the demon and vampire locations then we'll give you this."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lyrics that Nate sings are from BriCie and Sapphy's English cover of White Silence in case anyone was wondering.


	11. Deal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for editing this chapter :)

Nate blinked rapidly. "Excuse me? I said I'll give you the locations to the hideouts, not give you a tour on them."

"Sorry, but we don't completely trust a Cannibalistic Monster that we've just met." One of the Light Keepers said harshly.

"Not with that attitude you can't." Nate growled. 

The same Light Keeper twirled his hand and a hand gun formed in it, and he pointed it at Nate's forehead. He bit the inside of his lip when he smelled burning. A flame infused bullet. Nate tried not to show much of a reaction, he just looked at the tip of the gun and shrugged. "Or maybe you can."

"Jared, put the gun down." The Light Keeper with the clear ferret on his shoulder begged, trying to lower Jared's gun.

"I will once this monster agrees to take us to the hideouts." Jared responded coldly. "Austin! Stop trying to snatch it out of my hand!"

Austin. Nate eyed the Light Keeper intently. That name seems familiar. He quickly shrugged of the thought. _Maybe I knew someone called Austin as a human_. He blinked at the two before he looked at the others. "Are they always like that?"

"Afraid so." The brown haired and bearded Light Keeper nodded. "But seriously, take us to the hideouts."

Nate eyed them all individually, except for Jared and Austin, who were still fighting over the gun. He didn't like the tone of them, they reminded him too much of the ones that killed Hunter and almost killed him. _It's probably best to stay on their good sides._  "Fine." Nate agreed bitterly. "But I'm just showing you them. Don't expect me to help you bastards raid them or anything. I'll show you them, then I want the burn cream."

"Sounds fair." The male that Nate presumed was the leader stepped forward. "You can go back to Gate, Morgan." He muttered to the fairy, who took off without a word. Surprisingly, he then held his hand out. "I'm Jon, leader of this squad."

Nate looked appalled, and so did the other Light Keepers. Austin and Jared stopped arguing and were looking at their squad leader with confusion.

Jared raised an eyebrow. "Jon; you're talking to a Cannibalistic Monster, which after this deal we're making with it-" Nate felt pretty offended being called an 'it' and made a face but he didn't interrupt. "-AJ will probably send out another squad to hunt it down in about a week."

"I'm a he." Nate hissed, but none of them seemed to care. He then made himself louder and changed the subject. "He's right. I'm not making any plans to go skipping in the fields of friendship with you Light Keepers."

Jon just made a shooing motion with his hand at Jared and looked into Nate's eyes. "I know, but knowing each others names will be easier than calling each other 'wendigo' and 'dark haired guy with beard'."

Nate blinked at Jon. _How the fuck's this guy a squad leader?_  Jon then pointed at his squad individually. "That's Ian, that's James but we all just call him Caddy, that's Jared, and that's Austin."

Nate pondered. _"Are you sure you're all qualified Light Keepers?"_  Is what he desperately wanted to say. Austin and Jon just seemed like idiots, Jared seemed to be the only intimidating one and Nate hasn't heard Ian or Caddy enough to judge them yet. "Nate." He said simply. Before he spoke again, he notice Austin give him another inquisitive look. "Follow me if you want these hideout locations then." Nate then jumped onto the roof and scrambled himself up.

"Can't we just walk down the street?" Caddy questioned.

Nate looked over his shoulder to see Ian lean close to Caddy's ear. "He's going through wendigo transformation, so he can still be seen by Normals."

"But surely, walking through the street attracts less attention than walking on a roof?"

He was ignored. The squad followed Nate onto the roof and Nate raced across the buildings feasibly, the Light Keepers following behind him. It wasn't long until he paused on a roof and looked down at a building which he faintly recalls humans call a pub. The Light Keepers stood beside him, looking at the building in front of them.

"This is where the vampire hideout is, there's a hidden passage underneath it and that's where they're hiding." He turned his gazed to Jon. "The demon hideout is quite a walk away."

"Take us there." Jon demanded.

Nate dived off the roof and landed with a roll. He rushed off, the Light Keepers following a good few feet behind him. He ran out of the streets and towards a woods that sat outside the street, which had shadowy, overhanging trees. Nate turned to his right and ran deeper into the woods, the branches of the trees hitting his arms and legs. He then stopped, waiting for the Light Keepers to catch up. He looked down to a patch of flowers that decorated the grass beneath him. They were all colourful and filled with light- one vivid, luminous blue flower mainly caught his eye. Nate knelt down and picked it off its stem and examined it. A memento mori. "Remember that you must die." Nate spoke to himself in a whisper. That's what he was told it meant anyway. He analysed it, looking at every detail of the petals and the ash grey pollen. Suddenly, Nate felt light headed. His nose begun to bleed. Nate closed his eyes in pain. _Shit. What's happening to me?_  He snapped his eyes open to find that the woods around him was gone. He was in what looked like a broken down house, floorboards sticking up and the ceiling broken up. Nate then froze when a burning smell hit his nose. Gas. He whipped his head around, he could barely see the cracked gas pipe underneath the destroyed floorboards. Nate turned his head back around to see a wendigo staring cruelly into Nate's eyes. Before he could act the wendigo snatched its hand around Nate's neck and pinned him against one of the broken down walls. The wendigo's grip was so firm that Nate swore he felt the bones in his neck get crushed slightly. Pain detonated in Nate's chest as the wendigo used it's other arm to impale Nate, he coughed up blood in the process and breathed heavily. Nate attempted to bring both of his hands up to try and rip away the wendigo's hand around his throat, but he only found his right hand come up. He looked down to his left arm and flinched. From his elbow down, his left arm was gone. A sudden movement opposite him caught his attention. A male with tidy brown hair had rushed over the the door of the cabin and his hand went over a light switch. Nate felt horrified. Along with the gas leak, he could see where this was going. The human stopped before his hand hit the switch and looked over to Nate. Despite only seeing the face once, Nate recognised it as Matt's- the Light Keeper who he saw in the forest- and he looked like he was going to explode into tears. Nate then felt himself nod. Matt closed his eyes, rapidly hit the switch, before running out. The cabin burst into flames, the flames and gas mixed, and Nate felt himself burn up badly before the world around him went white. Nate snapped his eyes open as something touched his shoulder. He whipped around to see Austin standing there. Nate looked around frantically, he was back in the woods, grass under his feet and trees surrounding him. Nate dropped the memento mori. _What the fuck was that?_

"You okay? You just zoned out." Austin asked.

Nate snapped his gaze back to the Light Keeper and realised that he had his hand on Nate's shoulder. Nate quickly slapped Austin's hand away. "Don't touch me!" Nate snarled and Austin looked quite taken aback. He gazed around. Austin was the only one here. Nate raised an eyebrow. "Where are the others?"

"I ran ahead of them." Austin answered. He then pointed at his own top lip. "You've got a little bit of blood there."

Nate brushed his finger across it and when he looked at his finger, it was stained with cherry blood. He wiped the rest of it away. "Thanks." Nate grumbled before turning away from Austin. Nate's mind went back to the vision he saw moments ago. _What was that?_  He looked at Austin, standing the corner of his vision. _Maybe I should ask him, he deals with supernatural shit almost everyday so he's bound to know._  He was pulled out of his thoughts when Austin snatched Nate's left arm into his own hand. Pain exploded from the burn across his arm as Austin touched it. "Hey! I said don't touch me!" Nate snarled. He was tempted to use his free hand to cut the Light Keeper's throat, but he knew that he was asking for his own death if he did that. Nate was about the scold Austin again, however he noticed that Austin's gaze was fixed on something on Nate arm. Nate followed it to a faded mark on Nate's arm. It was a thin, stretched out, incomplete black semi circle with a thin, stretched out red triangle next to it. Nate blinked at it. He saw it a few times before, but couldn't quite remember what it was or how it got there. 

"You are him." Austin muttered. The ferret on his shoulder gave a little squeak.

Nate ripped his arm away from the Light Keeper's grasp and rubbed his hand lightly over the burn. "Oh, we're playing the pronoun game now?"

Austin looked deeply into Nate's eyes. "No. Nate, you really don't remember anything about your human life?"

Nate grunted. "Why do you care?"

Austin opened his mouth to respond, but Jon and the rest on his squad appeared from the trees and cut them off.

"Alright, where's this demon hideout?" Ian asked as they walked over to them.

Nate was pretty gratefully for the interruption. He walked a few feet and tapped one of the trees lightly. "Inside this tree is the gateway spell that leads to the demon hideout."

Jon walked over to the same tree and hit it slightly. The tree sparkled gently, giving away the gateway spell on it. Jon turned around and looked over Nate for a moment. He then glanced over at Caddy. "Caddy, give him the healing cream."

Nate's eyes widened. Jared and Ian gave each other a doubtful look, but didn't say anything. Caddy pulled out the healing cream from his pocket and threw it at Nate, who caught it successfully. Nate looked at it and smiled drily. "Thank you for your time." He turned away, ready to walk off, and he heard the Light Keepers do the same thing.

"I think you should come to Gate with us." Austin spoke suddenly.

Nate turned to look at him. Caddy, Ian and Jon gave him an odd look and Jared stared at him in dismay. "Austin, you've have shit ideas in the past, but seriously?" Jared spoke in alarm.

Nate looked at Austin. "No thanks." He attempted to walk away again, but Austin ran up to him and turned Nate around forcefully.

"Nathan Sharp, listen to me!" Austin shouted, the other Light Keepers looking surprised at Austin's sudden change of tone.

 

Nathan Sharp. A sudden sharp bit of pain entered Nate's head and he put a hand to his forehead and clenched his teeth.

"Nate, you were going to be trained as a Light Keeper at Gate, but you disappeared the day before your training. You've had that tattoo on your arm since you were very young, you had a familiar which you called Bowser and that familiar made it so you could understand and speak all human and monster languages- which would make sense to why you can speak English despite being a wendigo!" Austin explained.

Nate looked at Austin. _What is this guy talking about? I was a Normal. I didn't see my first supernatural monster until I committed cannibalism._  Nate's head ached even more. Austin was still speaking, but Nate couldn't hear what he was saying over his headache. "Shut up!" Nate snapped. Out of frustration Nate swung his hand around and scratched Austin across the cheek. Gasps broke out from the other Light Keepers and Austin fell silent. Nate's headache had faded away and Austin put his hand on the wound Nate gave him. Nate glared at Austin darkly. "I'm not a Light Keeper and I'm not a human. I'm a wendigo. The only two things you guys are to me are a nuisance and my prey." He looked at the hand that Austin was using to cover the scar. "Next time, it won't be a scratch." Nate warned before rushing off, letting the shadowy trees devour him.

 

 

Nate didn't run for too long, he only ran for about two minutes before hauling himself up the nearest tree and sitting on one of the many branches. He opened up the healing cream and started to apply it to his burns. It stung as the cream made contact with the burnt skin, but Nate ignored it and continued to cover his injury with it. After he had finished, he gave a silent yawn. He needed to sleep. His stomach was growling for food, but Nate needed rest. His head hurt and he had too much on his mind. He pressed his back against the tree trunk. Taking a deep breath, Nate sung softly to himself.

"Won't you tell me? Please just tell me, explain how this should work. Well now who could it be, that lives inside of me? I'm broken lying, helpless shattered, surrounded by the world. And yet you're smiling bright, completely blind life. My ruptured lungs, they were left this way. For once, I'm out of breath. The truth I seek, never felt so bleak, but I maintain my depth. Freeze. I'm breakable, unbreakable. I'm shaking yet unshakeable. Until the day that you find me. I'll stand here existing and feeling wretched existence, consuming life-force 'til I grow distance. Don't bother searching for somebody like me. A fading no one. I don't want to hurt you, it's not my nature, a monster born from dusk to dawn can't be your saviour. Remember the me, the way I used to be. As who I still should be. The isolation spreads and tears, those happy days pierce into me. These lonely memories cease to care, they spread throughout my history. I'll never move, I'll never lose, I'll never move, I'll lose, I'll never move, I'll never lose you. Unravelling the world. At once I start changing yet everything's remaining. These lives I've felt would join as one, they fade away before they've begun. I'm breakable, unbreakable. I'm shaking yet unshakeable. Until these hands contaminate you. I'll stand here existing and feeling wretched existence, consuming life-force 'til I grow distance. Don't bother searching for somebody like me. A fading no one. This lonely space held into place by someone crazy, shall melt away like dawn to day as things get hazy. So please think of me, the way I used to be. As who I really should be; so don't forget me, you can't forget me, you won't forget me, please don't forget me. With changing inside I'm completely paralyzed, remaining corrupt as I wish for paradise. Remember the me, the way I used to be. Won't you tell? Please just tell. Well now who could it be, that lives inside of me?" Nate closed his eyes, put his head back against the tree, and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Nate sung is BriCie's (Ateotu and Lucy wrote the lyrics) version of unravel from Tokyo Ghoul.


	12. Familiars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Matt woke up the next morning feeling quite refreshed. Last night, he had put away his new belongings and went to the dining hall with Jack, Stephanie and Jason for dinner. The dining hall was huge, with dozens of tables and chairs and stands scattered with food. It was a self-service; an 'all you can eat' food place. You could continuously go up and grab food- and it was free. After having dinner, They all headed back to their rooms for the night and Matt got a quick visit from AJ, who gave him his weekly timetable and then left. He hadn't had a chance to look at it yet but he will do once he got up from bed. Before he went to sleep, he also began reading beginner spells from his spell book, basics on most of the monsters and read a little bit on familiars. He then set his alarm for seven before finally falling asleep, although he seemed to have woken up before his alarm had. Matt looked at the time. 6:57. _I might as well start getting ready._  He decided. Matt rolled out of his bed and picked up his timetable, which he had left on top of his computer, and eyed today's lessons. 7:10-8:50 - Breakfast. 9:00-10:25 - Familiar training class. 10:30-11:55 - Weapon training. 12:00-13:25 - Lunch break. 13:30-14:55 - Spells and cipher decoding. 15:00-16:25 - Cannibalistic Monsters class. Next to each of the classes was the class location and equipment necessary for the class. They wasn't much needed for the Cannibalistic Monsters class, just the main book of monsters and the Monster Categories book. For weapon training, you needed to bring your weapon key chain- the spells and cipher decoding class needed a lot. Bring book of spells, book of cipher decoding, silver charms, necklaces of resistance and enchanted crosses. Matt placed his timetable back on his computer and rapidly got dressed. He picked up his bag, which came with the room and already had a pencil case and notebook inside of it, and begun packing it with the books and equipment he needed. His alarm finally went of and Matt slammed it to silence it. He rushed to bathroom, went to the toilet, brushed his teeth and came out again. He picked up his bag, placed his time table in his pocket and walked out of his room, locked it and headed outside the dormitories. He headed onto the tube train, which had a banner on it saying 'school train'. It was already filled with a few other Light Keeper's with bags filled with equipment. The train left for the dining hall at 7:10 and it was already 7:08. Happiness filled Matt when the familiar faces of Stephanie and Jason entered the train and walked over to stand with him.

"Hi Matt. How was your first night?" Stephanie asked.

"It was good. I haven't slept like that in ages." Matt nodded.

Jason smiled. "That's good to hear. What lessons do you have for today?"

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Won't we all have the same lessons?"

Stephanie shook her head. "Some of the lessons vary on what the persons capable of. I mean, there's no point in sending a Light Keeper who can't summon a familiar to a familiar training class."

Matt shrugged. "Fair point." He pulled out his timetable. "Familiar training, weapon training, spells and cipher decoding, and Cannibalistic Monster class."

Stephanie giggled lightly. "Cannibalistic Monsters class for one of your first classes huh? Better bring a trash can or something, they show you pretty revolting images of the monsters in that class."

"We have pretty much the same classes, expect for the familiar training class, Steph and I have Tamable Monsters class." Jason said simply. "Also when we go to our class, we have to stay with our squad, so for all the classes you'll be sitting with Steph, Jack, Mark and me. As for the classes where the squad splits up, like the familiar training and Tamable Monster classes, Jack also has familiar training today so stick with him."

Matt looked around. He couldn't see the green haired Irishman anywhere on the train. "Where is Jack?"

"He's normally late to breakfast, he'll be here before breakfast ends though." Stephanie told him.

The door on the tube train shut and begun it's journey over to the dining hall. Matt watched the scenery out the window as they passed it, he slowly fell into his own thoughts. He then snapped back into reality pretty quickly when he remembered something. "Jason, what happened about the deal the wendigo proposed?"

Steph blinked. "A wendigo proposed a deal with us?"

Jason laughed softly. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Yesterday, when I went up with Matt to get him registered into Gate, Morgan came flying in saying that a wendigo wanted to make a deal. He offered us a demon and vampire hideout and in exchanged we'll have to give him some burn cream from a previous fight."

"Previous fight?" Stephanie's eyes widened. "Do you think that its-"

Jason finished for her. "The same one that we fought in the forest? It's pretty likely. Anyway, AJ thought about it for a long time and ended up calling Jon's squad to make the deal with it. They came back late last night with the locations- and also an astonished looking Austin."

"What happened?" Matt inquired.

"I'm not sure. I just saw them walking by, I didn't have time to talk to them." Jason shrugged.

The train pulled to a sudden stop and the doors swung open. Light Keepers flooded out of the train towards the dining hall. They piled into the dining hall and raced for tables and chairs.

Jason managed to claim a table. "You two go and get your food and come back here, then I'll go and get mine."

Matt and Stephanie nodded and went to grab their plates and their breakfasts. Both of the grabbed practically the same things, a few pieces of toast, some bacon, and sausages. They came back to the table and sat down, when they did, Jason got up to get his breakfast. He came back with a plain bowl of cereal and they all began to eat. Jack joined them a few minutes in, getting himself a plate of bacon, hash browns, and an egg. Their breakfast was mostly silent, eating in peace. After they finished, they talked for awhile about the wendigo deal and if it was a good idea or not, before getting up to head back to the school train. It was roughly 8:45 when they got on the train, followed by many other Light Keepers. It wasn't long until the train took off to the main school building as well as arriving there. Matt and Jack waved goodbye to Stephanie and Jason as they headed to different classes. Jack led Matt to the room where the familiar training class took place. They arrived a few minutes early.

Jack turned to Matt. "We're allowed to go in a sit down if we're early,. The teachers don't care as long as we behave."

Matt nodded in response and the two entered the class room. It was a large circular room with a projector hanging from the ceiling. It had rows of desks in a semi circle and as the room got further back, the desks were built higher. A small stair case led up the middle and the sides of the desks. Matt and Jack strolled up the staircase a bit before choosing on of the rows to sit in. Behind the desks were backless benches to sit on. Jack took a seat and Matt sat next to him, but at the same time he gave him enough elbow room. They both got out their pencil cases, notebooks and familiar training books, ready for the lesson. Other Light keepers entered the class room and did the same. Matt recognised Marzia walk in the door, next to a male with dirty blonde hair. The classroom wasn't too full, then he remembered Jack telling him that only a few Light Keepers have both a strong soul and steady aura to summon a familiar. Austin then walked through the door, wearing a smart suit; Matt then realised he was the teacher.

"Okay, class get your familiar training books, notebooks, and pens while I take attendance." Austin ordered.

Matt opened up his notebook, his memories of school returning to him. Despite being gone for one day, he missed Alex and Kelly. He ended up telling them that he had to move to a new part of the country and to a new school, but he promised to keep in touch. He looked up to Austin again and stiffened slightly when he saw the side of his face was scratched. It didn't look like it was from a supernatural being though, it more looked like it was caused by sharpened fingernail. Matt squinted.  _Was it there when we first met but I just didn't notice it? No, I'm sure that wasn't there yesterday._

Austin called out attendance, which was pretty quick since they were only about twelve Light Keeper's in the class. "Alright, can everyone open their familiar training books to page twenty-three?"

 Everyone obeyed. Matt flicked through the thin pages of his book and landed on the page he was told to and read the title. _Soul and aura wavelengths._  Matt tilted his head thoughtfully. He skimmed through this page last night, but with the mixture of skimming combined with being tired, he didn't quite understand it.

"For a quick recap, can someone tell me how some Light Keepers can summon familiars and some can't?" Austin asked.

A few hands raised in the room.

"Sparrow." Austin nodded at a female with long brown hair and dark eyes.

"Familiars are created from a Light Keeper's soul and are tamed by the Light Keeper's aura. The reason some Light Keepers can't summon a familiar is because the the soul needs to be clean and full of positive energy and the aura needs to be pure and balanced." Sparrow answered.

"Well done, now to simplify that for those who are probably confused as heck, familiars can only be created by those with a pure, human soul. If a human had a soul full of positive energy, then they can make a familiar, but if their soul is corrupted by anything negative- which could be hunger for revenge, thoughts of suicide, murder, or depression over losing someone close to you- the soul is no longer sustainable to create a familiar."

Matt blinked. He was still confused, but he noted down everything he could in his notebook anyway. Next to him, Jack raised his hand in question.

"Yes, Jack, what is it?" Austin inquired.

"What if someone had a familiar, and then their soul became corrupted? Would the familiar die because the soul is no longer one hundred percent positive?" Jack questioned.

"That's a pretty good question, actually. No. The familiar would survive and will still spawn once summoned by its human. The only bad thing about your soul becoming corrupted after the familiar was created is if the familiar is killed, the positive energy used to make the familiar will clean the soul so it becomes completely positive again, but you can never another familiar." Austin paused. "However, this can be very different in one case- and that's transformation."

"You mean like vampire transformation?" The dirty blonde male Matt saw earlier tilted is head in confusion.

"Yes, I do Felix, but not just vampire- all of them. If someone had a familiar, but then something happened which caused them to go through either vampire, werewolf, demon, or wendigo transformation, they wouldn't completely form."

"Form?" Felix questioned again.

"By that I mean they would not become the full monster, they would become half monster, half human. Even after the six months time it takes for the transformation to work, they won't change completely, because the purity used to create the familiar would not be corrupted by the monster side; it would remain human and the familiar's ability would pass from the familiar and to the half human-half monster it's now apart of. However if the familiar is killed when its human is half and half, the familiar won't be able to purify the human's soul back to normal, instead the familiar just dies and the monster side of the soul completely takes over, turning the half human-half monster into a full monster." Matt noticed Austin trail off in the end, deep in thought. Austin looked intently at the floor and the room went silent with confusion.

He then snapped back into reality. "Sorry about that! Just day dreaming."

Austin continued to ramble and Matt continued to jot down notes, but the pause that Austin had a moment ago remained in Matt's mind. Half human, half monster. Matt wondered. Maybe Austin knew someone like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really am sorry if the familiar talk was quite difficult/confusing to understand, that's just me being bad at explaining. :P


	13. On My Own

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Nate couldn't sleep. He was tired, but something wouldn't allow him to rest. He sat uncomfortably on a branch, the burn cream he'd used had worked perfectly, and his arm now felt new and healthy. One night had passed since the Light Keepers accepted his deal. After they left his area, Nate slept until night before going hunting- it wasn't too successful, the only human he managed to find was only a child, and although it was better than nothing, it didn't satisfy his hunger too well. He went back up his tree to sleep, he had his head and back on the tree trunk, eyes closed firmly, but he couldn't sleep. He had been sitting in the same position for at least six hours, begging sleep to overtake him, but it refused- and Nate knew why. In all of his five years of committing cannibalism, all of his victims were either old teenagers or adults; he'd never killed a child before, but he gave into his hunger and killed one for the first time. It was haunting him.

The child he had killed looked only about seven or eight and Nate just ate the human child mercilessly. He had lured the hopeless human away from its parents, using one of his many mimicked voices. Once his prey was far enough away from its family, he jumped down on it and pinned the child aggressively onto the ground and hungrily ripped into the young human's flesh. The child shrieked but Nate kept it's head pinned to the ground, hoping that the screams would be muffled by the earth. It only took two bites before the child fell limp as life left its body. Nate rapidly ate at the body, trying to savour it as it was still warm, he wanted to finish it before it became cold and started to rot. He ripped deeper into the corpse, ready to feast upon some of the organs. He then heard heard a loud gasp. Nate looked up. Both of the human parents stared down at him, the male looking horrified while the female, also looked terrified, looked at Nate cynically. Nate gazed at them for a moment, then dread filled him. Quickly Nate climbed up a tree and vanished into the leaves and branches. He rushed through the trees, running for what felt like ages. The parent's horrified faces stuck vividly in his mind- and they still remained fresh in his mind.

Nate hugged his knees against his chest as the vivid scene played over and over again in his mind. Even though that only happened about half a day ago, it had changed Nate. He always had an arrogant opinion on eating humans. All humans were to him were food, nothing else- but they are something else. They're their own species, fighting to survive, like him. He killed them for food, they killed him and other Cannibalistic Monsters because they're afraid to become food. Nate buried his head into his knees. He knew the feeling of not wanting to die- he knew the feeling of watching your best friend die. Nate felt tiny tears pool in his eyes. "We're not that different." Nate whispered. "Monsters and humans, both of us fight each other to survive, it's for different reason's but- we're still similar despite that. Monster like me are killers, humans like Light Keepers are just trying to put a stop to that." Nate took off his glasses and wiped the tears forming in his eyes. He placed his glasses in his pocket- then he felt his finger brush on a odd shaped piece of metal. Confused, he grabbed the small piece of metal and pulled it out of his pocket. He inspected the object. _A key chain?_  He analysed it for ages, unsure if that was what it actually was. It took a while until Nate recognised the shape as a scythe. He had seen some Light Keepers with a scythe weapon before, but not a tiny key chain like this. _Have I had this in my trouser pockets for five years and only just found it? What even is this?_  Sighing, Nate slipped it back in his pocket, thinking that he'll probably have to remember what it is sooner or later, closed his eyes and let his thoughts eat at him. _I'm a half human half monster, I'm on my own in this world. This world made from someone's cruel imagination._

"Alright class, settle down, so I can actually teach you guys important stuff."

Nate snapped his eyes opened and brought his head up from his knees. There's no child learning place in the middle of the forest. Nate swallowed. _Shit! Have I really wandered near Gate on accident?_  Nate scaled through the trees as quietly as he could. He balanced on a branch and looked out of the leaves that surrounded him, looking down at a group of Light Keepers at the opening of the forest. Nate looked further and saw the luminous city of Gate, buildings reaching the heavens and scenery which would make an experienced gardener jealous. _Why do I feel like I've been there before?_  Nate wondered as he eyed the breath taking city. He turned his gaze back to the Light Keepers, all of them looked like young adults, except the one in front of them talking. He had black hair, a beard-. Nate froze. He wanted to let out a hiss, jump down and snap his fingers around the Light Keeper's throat and suffocate him, rip him limb from limb. It was Jirard; the Light Keeper that had killed Hunter.

 

 

 

Matt walked with Jason, Stephanie, and Jack to their final lesson, Cannibalistic Monster class. He had been having a tiring day and was thankful that his was the final lesson before he could storm into the dining hall to eat, then collapse onto his bed. Familiar training has a ton of information to take in and Matt is unsure how he's going to memorise everything for the next familiar training lesson. Weapon training was hard work, yet fun. He worked with Stephanie, Jason, and Jack for the whole lesson. They worked together to defeat holograms of monsters and Matt got the hand of the blocking and fighting pretty quickly. Lunch was over as quick as it began; spells and cipher decoding was complicated to remember, as there were so many different chants and movements to cast a single spell- they didn't do anything to do with cipher decoding today, so he couldn't judge that yet. And now he was walking to his final lesson, Cannibalistic Monster class. Matt looked at Stephanie. "Who teaches the Cannibalistic Monster classes?"

Stephanie smiled at him. "Jirard Khalil." She responded.

They got to the classroom on time, as well as many other Light Keepers. They entered the classroom, which was identical to all of the other classrooms in the school building. They didn't even have a chance to sit down before a big, black haired and bearded man walked into the room. "Class! Don't bother sitting down or getting books out. I'm going to quickly take attendance and we'll be moving our lesson outside." He announced.

_He must be Jirard._  Matt assumed. Jirard rapidly called out attendance before leading the Light Keepers out of the school building and to the opening of a dark forest.

"Safety note: do not go into this forest, it is filled with many Dangerous and Cannibalistic Monsters and you'll most likely die without enough experience. As long as you stay this side of the forest, you'll be fine since the force field shields Gate from Dangerous and Cannibalistic Monsters and doesn't let them pass." Jirard warned.

Talking broke out between the students.

"I didn't know that Gate had a force field around it."

"Well obviously, otherwise we would be swarmed by vampires and demons every day."

"I like force fields."

Jirard clapped his hands for silence. "Alright class, settle down, so I can actually teach you guys important stuff. This isn't a spells class so save the force filed chatter for those lessons."

The noise died down.

"Thank you. So, someone tell me what are the difference between Dangerous and Cannibalistic Monsters?"

Hands shot up, including Matt's. Jirard nodded at Matt. "Matthew?"

"Dangerous Monster's have violent natures towards humans and other monsters, but it's mainly over territory or food. Cannibalistic Monsters are bloodthirsty and pose a huge threat to possibly wiping out humanity from existence because of their hunger for human flesh." Matt answered.

"Very good, Matt." Jirard praised. "Now, Cannibalistic Monsters are the most life threatening to humans. In three years, humanity's population has dropped by eight percent because of them. Vampires, ghouls, wendigos, demons, and manticores are the most deadly-" Jirard continued to talk about the dangers of a Cannibalistic monster and what to do if your alone and one approaches. Matt listened intently for the beginning, but his concentration broke when he saw movement from a tree. _Maybe it's just a squirrel._  Matt tried to reassure himself, but that was quickly forgotten about when he saw that is definitely wasn't a squirrel. It was the wendigo that he had encountered with Jason and Stephanie. Matt quickly scanned the Light Keepers, but he seemed to have been the only one who saw the wendigo. He was tempted to point it out to Jirard, but something about that didn't seem like it would go well. Matt moved his gaze back up to the wendigo, and flinched lightly when the wendigo's gaze met his. The wendigo's deep brown eyes pierced into Matt's. Surprise filled Matt when the monster's eyes seemed to soften the moment it shifted his gaze on Matt. Matt swallowed, before putting his attention back to Jirard. He glanced back at the wendigo every minute or so to check if it was still there- luckily Matt was at the back of the class, so no one noticed his continuous double taking. The first few times, the wendigo kept his gently gaze on Matt. It the turned his head to look at Jirard, almost seeming like he was trying to listen to the lesson and learn something about himself.

The lesson finally finished and the Light Keeper's scattered off to the dining hall. Jirard walked in. Stephanie, Jason and Jack all went to follow the other Light Keeper's to the tube train. Stephanie looked back at Matt, who was looking deep into the forest, still eyeing the wendigo. A few moments passed before the wendigo turned away and leaped down from the tree and faded into the forest.

"Matt, are you coming?" She asked.

Matt turned around to her. "You guys go on ahead, I want to go and ask AJ about something." Matt spoke calmly. This was a lie, he wanted to follow the wendigo. He knew that it was a terrible idea, but something about the wendigo interested him.

"Okay, see you at the dining hall then." Stephanie replied.

"See you there." Matt smiled. He watched as Jason, Jack and Stephanie walked out of sight and when he was confident that no one was watching him, he ran into the forest, in pursuit for the wendigo.

 


	14. Crossing Paths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping edit this chapter :)

Matt ran through the forest, jumping over tree roots and ducking under branches and leaves. It wasn't long until he entered a small clearing. He walked into the middle of it and looked around frantically, searching for the wendigo he saw moments ago. Surely, it didn't go further into the forest? Then again, Matt remembered how quick the wendigo's reflexes were when he first saw it, so it was possible-

 

_Snap!_

Matt whipped his head around at the sound of breaking wood. He saw aggressive shaking of leaves and birds shoot out of the trees and into the sky. Matt swallowed thickly. He placed his fingers in his pocket, ready to pull out his sword key chain in case he needed to defend himself. Silence. The leaves didn't dare to make even a quiet rustling sound. Matt eyed the trees that the birds flew from seconds ago, not keeping an eye on his back-which was where the threat stood in waiting. Matt then heard an explosion of leaves from behind, he turned around just as the wendigo pounced. The wendigo's speed caught Matt off guard as he crashed into Matt and the two collapsed and rolled around the in grass violently. Matt struggled, trying to shake off the monster, but the wendigo's strength was drastic and he kept Matt pinned to the earth. Matt wanted to scream, but the wendigo placed one harsh arm over his throat, cutting off Matt's windpipes and causing his every attempt to yell to come out in a raspy choke. It was only now that Matt had a proper look at the wendigo's face. Short but thick ebony hair, deep amber eyes which were filled with bloodlust, the skin on the face looked pale and broken. The wedigo curled back its ash coloured lips in a hiss, revealing noxious, fanged teeth. Matt felt his heartbeat quicken. He wanted to scream, but the air required to do so just wasn't there. He felt blackness crawl up the edge of his vision as he continued to beg for oxygen. Matt felt the wendigo tug his shirt down his shoulder, and readied itself to tear into the skin on Matt's shoulder. Reluctantly, Matt closed his eyes, preparing for the worst. He didn't want to watch his skin slowly get eaten away. He waited for the teeth for pierce his skin, but it didn't arrive. He just felt the wendigo's warm breath against Matt's skin. Instead, the force on Matt's throat weakened, giving him assess to a small amount of air, and listened to the wendigo shrieked.

 

 

"Fuck." Nate cursed in wendigo. He was starving, his hunger had a hold of him and right now he had a human under his grasp, which he was slowly suffocating under his strength. His mouth was a least a centimetre from making contact with the human's flesh, he wanted to devour the human under of him, but something was holding him back. Nate could almost feel his stomach clawing at him, begging for him to eat the human under his grasp. Slowly, he fixed his fangs around the human's shoulder, and they dug in slightly, it wasn't deep enough to draw blood but the human clenched his teeth in pain. Finally, Nate sunk his teeth into the skin of the human, blood oozing out of the wound once Nate tore off the mouthful and began chewing it. The human screamed in agony, but most of it was silenced by Nate cutting off his cries with his arm. When he swallowed the human meat, he let out a sigh of bliss. Nate smirked before going in for another bite. The human attempted to scream again, but it was cut off for the second time. He lifted his head up and chomped on the meat, swallowed it before licking the blood from around his mouth. Nate looked into the human's fear filled eyes. Nate blinked rapidly when he looked into the human's face. The bloodlust in his eyes faded and his gaze softened as he looked into the human's terror filled expression. Not only that, but Nate finally recognised the human- it was Matt, the cute Light Keeper he saw a few nights ago. Nate released his harsh arm from his throat and swiftly scrambled onto his feet. Matt took large mouthfuls of air, shuffled back from Nate a bit and placed his hand over his shoulder, which was nothing but a bleeding hole. The two eyed each other, their gazes sending confused mix thoughts to each other. Nate turned around ready to sprint away, but a deafening growl caused him to freeze on the spot. He looked around wildly. _Manticore._  He looked back down at Matt. _It probably smells his blood._  Rolling his eyes at himself, Nate rushed over to Matt and hauled him up to his feat and pulled his shirt back over his shoulder.

"What-what are you doing?" Matt inquired.

"I'm getting you the fuck out of here." Nate answered. "Unless you want to try and fight off a manticore."

"Why are you suddenly helping me?"

"Because I feel like it, now shut up and run."

Matt didn't argue and he allowed Nate to lead him through the forest, hugging the human against him as they ran.

"What is a manticore anyway?" Matt raised an eyebrow.

"A giant lion with dragon wings and a scorpion tail-and has a hunger for human flesh." Nate explained quickly. Another loud roar detonated. Nate whipped his head around to see a silhouette in the distance gradually getting bigger. "Shit." He growled. He turned back around and pushed Matt gently. "Pick up the pace, Light Keeper."

"Well, it's difficult running while your shoulder is bleeding out!" Matt snapped.

"Sorry." Nate muttered. Matt opened his mouth to argue but Nate cut him off before he could speak. "Save your energy, Light Keeper."

They ran some more and hope filled Nate as the tall city of Gate emerged in front of them. _Okay, I just need to get him across the force field._  A powerful rumble hit the ground, causing the earth the shake and for Matt and Nate to fall over. They rolled onto the earth, Nate's scythe shaped key chain falling out of his pocket and rolling a fair bit away from him, but Nate didn't notice. Nate rushed over to Matt and helped him on his feet. They watched as the trees in front of them got bulldozed by a giant winged, big cat. The mantiore faced them; it was huge, at least three meters tall, its massive wings spread out and teeth bared, its golden mane practically glowing. Its scorpion tail was curled about it, looking threatening. Nate and Matt backed away as the monster walked over to them. Matt continued to back away, but electricity exploded into Nate's back and stopped him. He looked back to see a faint wall show up for a second before disappearing. The force field. Nate couldn't pass it, of course he couldn't- he was a Cannibalistic Monster. Nate looked back up fearfully at the manticore, considering his very limited options- but at least Matt was safe.

 

 

Matt watched as the force field stopped the wendigo from entering Gate. He didn't know what to do; he watched as the manticore loomed over the wendigo and the wendigo gaze up at it, terrified. He then watched as the wendigo bolted to his left and the manticore followed right behind him. The wendigo was quick, but the manticore managed to chase him really well. Matt watched as the two monsters ran way from his sight. Part of Matt wanted to follow them, but he just learnt the consequences of running into a forest unprepared and he didn't want to live through that again. Deciding that the best thing to do would be to patch up his wound, which looked like a large hole in his skin than anything, and head to the dining hall where his friends were hopefully still waiting for him. He looked at the forest one last time, curious still on the wendigo's odd behaviour, before walking. His foot stepped on something hard. Confused, Matt picked up the item he stepped on- which was a scythe shaped key chain. _Maybe someone dropped it. I'll give it to AJ after I've had some dinner._  Matt decided before finally walking away.


	15. Marked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Panicking, Nate rushed through the trees, the manticore hot on his trail. It's paws made thunder and they hit the earth, it's large wings flapping violently as it gradually caught up with Nate. He swallowed. He couldn't outrun this monster forever, he needed to get out of this situation-fast. A sudden shock wave flew Nate forward, he clumsily landed and rolled back onto his feet. He looked around desperately. He needed to hide. Nate's gazed then fixed onto where he was heading, he was approaching a cliff face and hope filled him as he made out a mouth of a cave carved into it. The heavy paws of the manticore behind him got louder and at the entrance of the cave, Nate could see that the vibration of the manticore's paws were hitting the cliff face, causing stones and boulders to start crumbling down in front of the entrance. _Shit! I've got to make it._  Nate picked up his pace and rushed towards the mouth of the cave, racing against the manticore as well as the falling boulders. He dived forward, skidding across the cold, stony floor as he entered the cave the second before the boulders smashed into the ground, blocking the entrance. Nate felt his head collide with a solid rock and everything around him went black.

 

 

 

Matt sat on the tube train as he headed to the dining hall. He was extremely lucky and thankful of a number of things. The first one being he was still alive. Second, he was thankful that the shirt he was wearing was black, it covered the wound on his shoulder well and any bloodstain on it was difficult to see. Thirdly, he was lucky that Kelly had given him some lessons on how to clean up a wound before he left for Gate. Because of that, he manged to clean up his bite mark and he was also grateful that in his spells and decoding ciphers lesson he'd learnt a simple healing spell. It was still a dark red, crispy mess on his shoulder and it still stung badly but it was no longer bleeding.

Matt sighed. His mind kept flashing back to the horror he went through just minutes ago- the wendigo beginning to eat him alive, and being chased by an intimidating manticore. Matt squeezed his hands together. _Why did that wendigo spare me?_  His mind flashed back to when he first saw the wendigo when helping Stephanie and Jason track it. He remembered the wendigo eyeing him curiously the first time, and it did the same minutes ago. After meeting Matt's eyes, the bloodlust glowing in the monster's eyes faded and his vision became soft as he decided to stop eating Matt and help him run away from the manticore. _Why not just continue eating me? And why help me?_  Those questions plagued Matt's mind all the way to the dining hall. When the train finally stopped and its doors opened, Matt got out and entered the dining hall. The room was still filled with Light Keepers, including Jason, Stephanie and Jack. They were all sitting at a table, plates still quite full of food. Jason noticed him and gave him a nod, Matt returned one back. He grabbed a plate, some cutlery and different random food items, some of which Matt didn't even know what they were. Finally, he grabbed a can of diet coke before joining his squad at the table.

"How was it?" Stephanie asked as he sat.

"Oh, yeah it was fine. I just needed to talk to him about something." Matt lied. He told them that he was going to talk to AJ about something, and he felt terrible for lying- because of that one lie, he could have been killed and no one would have known how.

Jason looked at him. "Are you finding it difficult to fit in?"

Matt shook his head. "No." He paused so he could have a sip of his diet coke. "I just feel a little homesick, that's all." He wasn't lying. He missed his old college, house, Kelly and Alex...

"It's fine." Stephanie spoke through a mouthful of food. "Everyone gets like that sometime."

Matt nodded lightly. He placed a medium size amount of food in his mouth and chewed on it. He looked over to Jack, noticing that he was looking down at his plate of food worriedly. Matt raised an eyebrow- Jack was usually the loudest of all of them, so this was odd.

"He's worried about Mark." Jason answered for him.

Matt blinked. "The Light Keepers sent on the demon raid still haven't come back?"

Stephanie shook her head. "They were due back either yesterday or today, but no one's heard a word from them."

Matt looked down into his food. He hadn't met Mark yet, but he was their squad leader. _What would happen if he didn't come back?_  He then felt his shoulder sting- he tried to roll his shoulders to knock it off, but it still bit at him.

"Are you okay? You look stressed." Stephanie asked.

"I'm fine, just a shoulder cramp." Matt lied again, but Stephanie didn't question it any further.

They continued their meal. The doors to the dining hall flung open and silence fell over the room as female Light Keeper with short, golden yellow hair walked in. "Mark Fischbach's squad?

Matt, Jason, Stephanie and Jack all shot up. Jason raised his hand. "Over here."

"All of you, follow me, please." She ordered.

The other Light Keepers in the room exchanged glances with each other and the squad shared unsure looks, before finally following her out of the dining hall. She led them away from the building and onto the train. "Gate, hospital building." She told the fawn as they all sat down on the train. The train started moving.

Jason eyed her curiously. "Who are you?"

"Emma Blackberry." She responded. "I was one of many Light Keepers which were sent on a demon raid about a week ago."

Everyone's eyes widened, especially Jack's. "Is Mark alright?"

Watching the expression on Emma's face fall, Matt knew that it wasn't good news. "He came back from the raid alive, but- I'm sorry. He's been Marked."

Shocked expressions fell on everyone. Matt swallowed. He didn't know what being 'Marked' meant, but obviously it wasn't good. He didn't asked though, since he didn't want to be stupid in a serious moment. He figured that he would pick it up eventually so he stayed quiet.

"You're- You're joking, right?" Jack asked, trying to reassure himself. "Marked? He isn't actually, is he?"

Emma sighed. "I wish I had better news."

Jack opened his mouth to say something but no words came out. Stephanie and Jason looked at each other. Stephanie turned to Emma. "How long will he have until he turns?"

"The usual. He has six months until the transformation fully happens, so six months before he would need to be killed" Emma replied

Matt stiffened slightly, knowing now what being Marked meant. It was the way demon transformation happened on humans. Wendigo transformation happened after cannibalism, werewolf transformation happened after being bitten by a werewolf, vampire transformation happened after drinking vampire blood or being bitten by one. Being Marked was the way transformation into demons happened.

Matt blinked at Emma. "Is there a way to cure it before the transformation fully happens?"

Emma nodded. "There is. Making the one going through transformation eat the pulp of a Purity Flower before their six months is up." She bit her lip. "But those are so rare. Either we find one too late or we find one that's not fully grown or wilted."

The train stopped ans they all exited it. Emma led them into a building and strolled down the halls. They stopped at one of the many doors and Emma looked through the window next to it. The other Light Keepers mimicked her. Matt looked inside; the room was a mixture of cyan and dark blues. A bed sat with medical machinery around it. Asleep on the bed, was a male Light Keeper with black and red hair, glasses sitting on his face. He didn't know Mark, but Matt felt pity towards him. Jason and Stephanie looked at him with compassion and Jack looked like he was about to burst into tears.

"I'm sorry." Emma spoke softly. "We're going to try and find a Purity Flower, but that's easier said than done."

Matt put his arm around Jack's shoulders reassuringly as he looked at his boyfriend hopelessly.


	16. Vision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

"Nate, I'll need your help over here." 

Nate looked over to where Amanda had called him. "Coming." Nate replied. He got up from the chair he was sitting in and placed his book which he was reading, labelled  'Monster Categories' on the chair. He walked over to her. Amanda had dark blonde hair and large bright eyes. She sat at the end of an injured Light Keeper's bed; the Light Keeper had brown and green hair, however, Nate couldn't see the eye colour as his eyes were closed in sleep. Amanda's gaze met Nate's as he walked up to her. 

"What happened to him?" Nate questioned. 

"He got attacked by a dragon that his friend was trying to tame." Amanda responded. "I need you to go to grab some fairy mushrooms and a memento mori and bring them back in here." 

Nate raised an eyebrow. "Isn't memento mori poisonous?" 

"It is if you eat it. But we're going to mix it with the fairy mushrooms to make a paste to go over the wound so it doesn't get infected." Amanda reassured. 

Nate nodded. "Okay, I'll go grab some." Nate walked out of the medical room and headed to the herb and flower room, where the healing flowers were grown for Light Keeper needs. Nate sighed. Every other Light Keeper was out, slaying monsters, going on missions and adventures, while he was trapped in the hospital building, helping trained doctors and nurses to heal those that came back injured. He wanted to see the outside world, the world which Light Keepers saw, but he couldn't. For some reason, he wasn't born with the ability to see anything supernatural. Nate couldn't recall the amount of times his parents placed a 'dragon' or 'fairy' in front of him to try and show him the hidden creatures, but no matter what, he couldn't see or hear them. The only supernatural being he could see was Bowser, his familiar, and this was because he was made up of Nate's soul, so Bowser was practically an animal version of Nate. But because he couldn't see supernatural beings, his parents sent him to a school for Normals, until he turned thirteen. 

He was born in the Light Keeper city of Opal. It was a huge, towering city and it was surrounded by a luxurious ocean and lovely colours. He lived there all his life, until he turned thirteen a few weeks ago. For his thirteenth birthday, Nate's parents decided to send him to Gate to received special training from the leader, AJ, who apparently had Nate's problem when he was younger. He was sent to Gate- and his training hadn't even begun yet. AJ instructed that Nate should learn the basics of healing flowers and herbs before training just in case the worse happens. It had been almost a month since he began helping the nurse and doctors with wounded Light Keepers and next week was when his training started. His training to become a Light Keeper. Nate was incredibly excited. He picked a scythe for his weapon and he was itching to learn how to wield it. He still had a few days to get through first,though; he'd promised to go camping with some of his Normal friends as a farewell for the weekend- then after that, he could begin his training. 

Nate entered the room labelled 'Herbs and Flowers'. It was basically a huge greenhouse. Nate looked around it in awe for a moment before walking around it. Some fairy mushrooms and memento mori. He reminded himself. The fairy mushrooms didn't take long to find, he picked a few of them and searched for the memento mori patch. He finally found the vivid blue flower, picked it by the stem gently, and analyzed it. _It really is a beautiful flower; shame that the meaning behind the name's pretty scary. _Memento mori- remember that you must die; well that's what Amanda told him it meant anyway. Nate then felt his nose suddenly become wet. He rubbed it and looked at his hand to see blood rubbed over it.  _A nosebleed?_ Nate blinked slowly. When his eyes opened again, the greenhouse was gone. Instead, he stood inside an abandoned looking house, broken walls and flooring around him. Nate looked around. How did I get here? He looked around wildly and noticed that his left arm was missing. _What_ _the actual fuck?_  He whippedhis head around to be greeted with a pale, deformed human face staring at him. Nate swallowed. He then felt a tap on his shoulder. He blinked and turned around quickly. He was back in the herbs and flowers room and a young male Light Keeper with neat brown hair and dark eyes was looking at him, puzzled. "Are you okay, Nate?" He asked. 

Nate nodded. "Yeah, I think so, Matt." Nate couldn't help but feel himself blush lightly. He had a crush on the male Light Keeper- Matt was quirky, adorable, and a complete and utter nerd. Nate coughed, changing the subject. "Why are you in here?" 

"Oh, Mr. Gradea wanted me to grab some pixie petals for the lesson, so I came here to get some." Matt smiled. "Where are the pixie petal?" 

"Over there." Nate pointed lazily towards a tiny, darkcoloured bush covered with dull, pink flower petals. 

"Thank you, Nate." Matt spoke happily. He wandered over to the bush Nate pointed at and picked off some of the petals. He then turned to Nate. "You will be joining the classes soon, right?" 

Nate nodded, adjusting his glasses as they fell from his nose slightly. "I should be." 

"Great! Can't wait to be learning buddies!" Matt smiled at Nate one last time before exiting the room. Nate smiled as he left. _He's such a dork._  Nate thought to himself, but that's what he loved about the energetic Light Keeper. Nate took a deep breath. _Focus on the job you were given, Nathan._  He double checked to see if he had the fairy mushrooms and the memento mori, before walking out and heading back to the room where Amanda was waiting for him. Nate felt a shiver go through him as the broken down house came into his mind. _Maybe I'll ask Amanda about it._ He opened the door to the room which had Amanda and the sick Light Keeper in it. Amanda eyed him as he walked in. "That took a while." She commented. 

"Sorry." Nate apologized. "I kind of had a vision." He said as he handed the flowers to Amanda. 

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "A vision? Well, you _are_  from Opal, you guys do future vision and time manipulation stuff all the time. Care to explain what it was about?" 

Nate quickly explained what he saw. "Do you have any idea why I got the vision and what it's about?" 

Amanda bit her lip. "I wasn't trained in Opal, so time stuff isn't my forte, but it sounds like you saw a death vision of yourself." 

Nate looked down at his feet, remembering being taught about death visions in Opal. He shivered slightly. 

"Don't worry about it too much. If anything, if it was a death vision, you can come up with a way to avoid it and cheat it." Amanda said reassuringly. 

Nate shrugged. "I guess you're right." 

Amanda smiled at him. "Now come over here and I'll show you how to make a paste out of fairy mushrooms and memento mori." 

 

 

Nate slowly opened his eyes. His head was in a huge amount of pain. He stumbled to his feet as he remembered what happened- his head made friends with a rock. He had ran into the cave to hide from the manticore and it ended up caving in, trapping him inside. Nate looked around, thankful for his wendigo eyes being great at seeing in the dark. He looked at the blood-covered rock that his head collided with, then around at multiple passageways in the caves. _Great. How am I suppose to know which one goes where?_ Stressed, Nate begun to whistle to himself softly as he tried to come up with a plan. Suddenly, he felt something warm and furry gently brush against his arm. "Shit! What the fuck?" Nate gazed around and his eyes set onto a ghostly looking dog, with huge eyes and its mouth open in a grin. Nate blinked at the dog rapidly. A name suddenly stood at the end of his tongue, one he hadn't said in a while. "Bowser?" he said, almost in a whisper. The dog yapped happily, wagging his tail brightly. Bowser walked passed Nate and walked over to the passageway furthest from the left, looked over to Nate and barked enthusiastically. Uncertain, Nate followed the clear dog, and as he got closer, the dog walked further into the passageway. Nate followed the ghostly dog through the web of tunnels. After a few minutes of walking, he could see a small visible light- an exit. Bowser yipped and rushed for the exit and sat there, patiently waiting for Nate. Nate walked up to the transparent dog, which looked up at him gleefully. Nate reached his hand down and pet the dog's head, surprised to feel real fur. Nate smiled at the dog thankfully. "Thank you Bowser, thank you." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will most likely not be a chapter tomorrow since I am out for the whole day.


	17. Linking Pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Matt sat on the tube train, making his way to the main building. Two weeks had passed since Matt had saw that their squad leader, Mark, had been Marked by a demon. Out of the devastation, he forgot that he was going to go to AJ and hand him the scythe key chain that he found lying around and just carried on with his lessons. However, during a Neutral Monsters class, it suddenly hit him that he still had the scythe in his pocket; so as it was his last lesson of the day he hoped on the tube train and directed it to the main building. The train halted and opened its doors at the shopping district and Matt watched as a mixed group of Light Keepers exited the train. When no on got on, the doors closed.

"Next stop: Gate, Main Building." The fawn announced.

The train moved again. Matt decided to take out the scythe key chain and examine it. He also pulled out his sword key chain and compared the two. Matt's sword key chain, key chains he saw other Light Keepers had, was dark black colour and the hilt of the sword was a dark green. However, the scythe's colours were different, the main weapon colour being a dark shade of blue and the hilt was a deep grey. The scythe key chain also felt lighter than his sword key chain. _Odd._  Matt thought. He placed them back in his pocket so he didn't accidentally summon them. The train stopped and opened its doors the the main building, Matt hopped out and walked up to the building. He heard the rumble of the train as it closed its doors and continued. He pushed the open and walked up the spiral staircase up to AJ's office and knocked on it.

"Come in." AJ's voice granted him.

Matt opened the door and entered AJ's room. He sat in his chair, book opened in his hand. He looked at the end of AJ's desk to see Morgan sitting at the end of it, a tiny mug filled with tea in her hands.

"What can I do for you, Matt?" AJ asked, putting down his book and looking up at Matt.

"Hi, I found a key chain a few days ago and I was wondering if I could hand it in to you."

AJ blinked. "Sure thing. I haven't had anyone come up here to tell me that they've lost a key chain but I'll hold onto it."

AJ held out his hand. Matt reached into his pocket and pulled out the scythe key chain and placed it in his leader's palm. AJ inspected it, eyebrows raised. "Where did you find this?"

"Outside the forest." Matt answered.

"This is a key chain made and used by Light Keepers from Opal. Morgan." AJ called. 

"Yes sir?" Morgan questioned. 

"When did we last have a visitor from Opal?"

Morgan tilted her head in thought, twitching her wings gently. "Five years ago, you agreed to take Nate from Opal to train him."

_Nate._  The name sunk into his mind. He was the boy Jack and Austin talked about, the Light Keeper that went missing five years ago.

"Nate." AJ muttered. Matt watched as his eyes then widened. He then began talking to himself in a volume at which Matt could hear him. "Nate came to Gate from Opal five years ago to get special training. He came with a scythe and a familiar named Bowser, which allowed him to understand and speak every human and monster language-" He paused for a moment. "The wendigo." He breathed out.

Matt blinked with confusion. "Sorry?"

Morgan also looked up at her leader with a puzzled gaze. "Do you mean the wendigo that proposed that deal to us?"

"Morgan, what did you say the wendigo looked like again?" AJ asked, completely ignoring her question.

"Black hair, glasses, brown eyes..." She drifted off, her own eyes widened. "Shit, that is awfully similar to Nate's appearance."

  _And similar the the one who attacked then saved me two weeks ago._  Matt thought.

"Also he can speak human, which isn't possible for someone going through wendigo transformation unless-" AJ trailed off.

"-The person had a familiar which had the ability to speak multiple languages and the ability passed over to their human!" Morgan fished, almost yelling.

"I'm confused." Matt commented.

Morgan looked up at him, taking a sip from her tea before speaking. "I'm sure you've heard people talk about Nate."

Matt nodded.

"Well, he was a Light Keeper from the main city Opal. He was born without the ability to see supernatural beings though, so he was sent over to Gate for special training. Don't you remember him? You two were really close fri-" AJ sent her a sharp glare to her to shut up and she snapped her free hand over her mouth.

Matt blinked rapidly. He opened his mouth to speak but AJ spoke before he could. "Different Matt, Morgan. That was a different Matt."

"Oh yeah. It was a different Matt who was friends with Nate. A different Matt that looked like you, acted like you, had the same last n-Ouch!" She snapped when AJ flicked her back to silence her.

"Don't mind her." AJ told Matt. "Anyways, thank you for this, you might have just helped us find a long lost Light Keeper that we all believed was dead."

"You're welcome." Matt replied, a bit of puzzlement dragging down his voice.

AJ and Matt stared at each other for a moment, until AJ coughed. "I need to get back to work, Matt."

"Oh, right. Sorry, I'll leave now." Matt responded. He smiled and waved at AJ and Morgan before walking out, closing the door behind him. He stayed where he was, and listened.

He heard Morgan voice. "I don't get why you're still keeping the truth from him."

"I'm only doing what his parents asked me to do." AJ replied gruffly.

"I know, but why keep the truth when he's back after his parents sent him away?"

"It's complicated Morgan, but long story short; it's for his safety."

The talk fell into imperceptible mutters. Matt moved away from the door slowly. He walked out of the building and waited at the tube station for the next train. Questions plagued his mind.  _My parents? My safety?_  And the one thing he found most important.  _What is it that AJ's trying to hide from me?_


	18. Misson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

"Guys, we've got a mission." Stephanie called as she walked over to Matt, Jason, and Jack, who were all sitting at a table in the dining hall, enjoying dinner.

 

Jason pricked up. "What is it?"

Stephanie sat down with them before answering. "Tomorrow morning, we're going into the forest to calm down the forest spirit."

Jack swallowed his mouthful of food. "Calm down a forest spirit? Spirits don't get mad unless something destroyed their territory."

"I know, so either a large monster has gone around and bulldozed down a good handful of trees, or Normals are cutting down trees for their own needs." Jason guessed.

"So, what will we need for this?" Matt asked, before putting a forkful of food in his mouth.

"Not much. I'll bring our weapons for protecting and book on spells and cipher decoding. Also an ear piece and some flares each just in case we get split up." Jason added at the end.

All of them nodded, Jack was a little unenthusiastic though.

"Jack, I know you're upset about Mark, but we still have a little over five months to try and find a Purity Flower." Stephanie reassured the Irishman. "You never know, we might end up finding one while we're out."

Jack gave a tiny nod, a nod so tiny that Matt wondered if he imagined it. "I know." He replied, barely in a whisper.

Jason blinked at him sympathetically before turning his gaze to look at everyone. "Alright, so we'll meet up at the edge of the forest tomorrow at nine o'clock. Okay?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright, see you then; and remember to bring your weapon key chain and spells and cipher decoding book." Jason reminded before getting up, to head to the dormitories. Slowly, Stephanie and Jack followed him.  Matt stayed where he was for a minute, before getting up and leaving as well.

 

Matt entered his room and closed the door behind him. He knew he should be excited for his first mission, but he wasn't. It wasn't because he was fearful of the forest or that he was unhappy. He just felt okay. Something was dragging at his mind, making him unable to think straight- and that was the conversation he overheard AJ and Morgan having. It's been glued to his mind all day; he couldn't shake it out. All his life, Matt believed his parents died when he was young, he even had memories from his youth; so why was he now doubting them? _It's for his safety._  Those works replayed in his mind like a broken record. _What's for my safety? What is it that my parents apparently sent me away for that was suppose to keep me safe?_  Matt sighed. He knew it wasn't the best idea to think about it, but he couldn't help it when it was the only thing that his mind was focusing on. _I need a shower._  Matt decided. _It might help me clear my mind a bit._   He walked into his bathroom and undressed. He looked at his shoulder in the mirror. The wound had gotten worse; the skin around it had become an unhealthy colour and the wound itself had become black and looked infected. He had tried to use Skip's healing abilities to try and help it, it helped relieve the pain but Skip's powers couldn't remove the infection that was now inside the wound. It didn't help that it stung like hell. _After the mission tomorrow, I'll go to the medical room and get it checked._  Matt decided. He knew he should have done that to begin with, but he knew he would also be questioned about it, then Matt would have to explain how much of an idiot he was.

Matt had a rushed shower, got out, and changed into his nightwear. He exited his bathroom and packed his bag for the mission tomorrow. He took his weapon key chain and placed it next to his bag, set his alarm for seven, like he normally did, and collapsed onto his bed. He pulled the duvet over him and let sleep engulf him.

 

Matt opened his eyes to be surrounded by darkness. He couldn't see anything. He attempted to stand up but his body wouldn't let him. He could only move his gaze around.

"Are you sure you want me to do this?" A familiar voice asked. 

Matt froze. That's AJ's voice. Matt tried to open his mouth to speak, but his lips refused to move.

"We're sure." An female voice responded. "Just, do it quickly before we changed our minds."

_Do what?_  Matt desperately wanted to question what was happening, but his mouth refused to work. All he could do was listen and look around the blackness around him.

"AJ?" A male voice then question.

"What is it?" AJ responded gruffly.

"Once you do remove them, could you please destroy them?"

AJ sounded bewildered. "You want me to remove and then destroy his memories of being a Light Keeper? That's outrageous!"

"Please, AJ. It's for Matt's safety, as well as all the other Light Keepers in the GHOST agreement." The female begged. 

Matt swallowed nervously. _Destroy my memories? What do I possible have that's needs to be destroyed to keep GHOST safe?_  Matt thought. He had learnt that GHOST was an acronym for the five main cities that Light Keepers lived in; Gate, Harmony, Opal, Sol and Thunder.

The room went silent, AJ was obviously deep in thought. Then, Matt heard him sigh. "Very well."

Matt felt his breathing become quicker, unsure what was about to happen to him. He then felt a hand place itself on Matt's forehead. The hand swiped across Matt's forehead and Matt fell unconscious.

 

 

 Matt was awoken by the beeping of his alarm. he smacked it quiet and sat on his bed, breathing heavily. He then sighed with relief. _Thank god, it was just a dream._  He then froze. _Or was it?_ Matt frowned, thinking deeply. He then shook it off and dressed himself, grabbed his bag and weapon key chain and left his room. He got on the tube train to the dining hall, had a rapid breakfast, and got down to the meeting place by 8:56. Jack was already there, waiting. They greeted each other with a wave as Matt approached him. They didn't have to wait long until Stephanie and Jason joined them. They all walked into the forests, and outside the safety of Gate. They wandered through the towering trees, Jack and Stephanie taking the lead, while Matt and Jason followed.

"So, how do you calm down a forest spirit?" Matt asked after a while.

"Well, a forest spirit wouldn't get mad unless the forest it resides in had been destroyed somewhere." Jason explained. "We'll have to find the part of the forest which had been destroyed and then cast a healing spell on the four corners of the damage."

"And I think I've found the damage." Jack called over to them. Matt and Jason walked over to where he and Stephanie were standing. Matt swallowed when he looked. Many of trees were broken and collapsed onto the ground, a cliff face overlooking it and Matt also noticed a small caved in hole inside the cliff face. _The manticore must have chased the wendigo in this direction._  Matt guessed.

"Shit." Jason commented. "This is probably what's gotten the forest spirit so upset."

Stephanie nodded in agreement. "Okay, so we'll take a corner each. Jason, you go for the top left, Matt top right, I'll go bottom left and Jack you'll do bottom right. When you get to your corner, cast the strongest healing spell you know on the trees around you and it should spread to the other trees."

Matt blinked. "Could I summon Skip? He has healing abilities."

Jason nodded. "Not a bad idea, he'll help the healing go faster also."

Matt whistled gently and watched as his cat familiar materialised into existence. He gave a light meow and Matt stroked his head.

"Alright, let's go to our corners. Also be careful, I remember that there's a ravine somewhere near by, so try not to fall down that." Stephanie warned.

All of them nodded and headed down to the corners they were given. Matt walked on, Skip following eagerly. Matt noticed that when Skip walked, his feet caused a rippling effect on the ground like a pebble being through into water. He stood in position and placed his hands against the bark of one of the crippled trees. He began to mutter the healing spell to himself, Skip brushed his fur against the side of the tree as well. A cyan coloured aura started to spread amongst the trees and earth, which grew stronger as Stephanie, Jason and Jack started to mutter healing spells of their own. Matt watched in awe as the bark on the trees stitched itself back together and the broken branches reattached themselves. Gradually, the trees were pulled back onto their roots and stood up powerfully. The cyan coloured aura slowly faded away. 

"Alright!" Stephanie called. "I think we've done-"

"HOLY MOTHER OF FUCK!" Jack shouted.

Matt's gaze snapped over to the green haired Light Keeper and watched as Jack leaped away from where he was standing, a flurry of leaves following him; along with the manticore that Matt had encountered the other day. Matt whistled to call back Skip before he grabbed his sword key chain and twirled it, causing it to form. Stephanie did the same with her key chain, while Jack and Jason gazed up at the beast.

"Well, that explains the trees." Jason commented.

"What the fuck is a manticore doing in a forest? Don't they live on mountains?" Jack questioned as he got up to his feet.

"I'm not sure." Stephanie answered. "We don't have to training to take down a fully grown manticore, it's best if we try and distract it and head back to Gate to report it."

Jason and Jack summoned forth their weapons, Jason holding his shotgun and Jack gripping onto his crossbow. "Jack and I'll will keep it's focus on us. While we do that Steph and Matt, try and injure it's legs so it can't stand. It won't likely fly in this environment." Jason instructed.

Matt and Stephanie nodded before facing the manticore, its glazed eyes full of anger. It raised a paw, ready to slam the two into the ground. Stephanie and Matt rolled out of the way and before the manticore could go for one of them, Jack fired an arrow from his crossbow and hit the manitcore just below the eye. Jason fired a bullet from the shotgun and the manticore hissed as it hit its side. With it distracted, Matt and Stephanie charged at one of its front legs each and both of them cut the back of the manticore's ankles. The monster shrieked and attempted to trip them with it's scorpion tail, but failed as both Matt and Stephanie jumped over it swiftly. However before they could land a blow onto it's back legs, the manticore beat it's wings, the power of it causing them all to be blown back. Stephanie, Jack and Jason were all blown back into a tree, which broke their landing; however Matt was flung back a little further, and when he landed, he felt the ground beneath him crumbled. Before he could even regain his balance, the earth under his feet collapsed, causing him to drop his sword as he fell a bit before digging his hands into the earth. Matt looked down. He was hanging over the ravine that Stephanie mentioned earlier. He tried to pull himself up, but every time he put more weight onto his hands, the earth beneath them crumbled, ready to break off at any moment. Matt felt blood rushing through his ears as he hung on, unsure what he should do. The earth under his grasp finally broke off from the edge of the ravine and Matt closed his eyes as he begun to fall to his death. The fall lasted not even a second when he felt a hand grab his wrist and fingernails digging into his skin. Matt snapped his eyes open, expecting to see either that Stephanie, Jack or Jason had caught him before he fell- it was neither of them. It was the ebony haired, glasses wearing, brown eyed wendigo. _Nate._ Matt though.

"I can't pull you up alone, Light Keeper, I'll need you try and and help me." Nate snapped.

Matt nodded quickly. He placed his other hand and feet against the side of the ravine and tried to wall climb up it, Nate pulling him up as he did. The earth around them crumbled rapidly. Matt reached his front half of his body over the ledge and Nate hauled the rest of him over. Nate then dragged Matt away as the ledge collapsed into the ravine. Nate stumbled onto his feet and offered a hand to Matt.

"Thank you." Matt blessed Nate, trying to meet his gaze.

Nate stayed quiet, and didn't meet Matt's eyes.

"Matt!"

Matt and Nate's heads snapped around to were they heard Stephanie call his name. "I'm fine! I'm coming back!" He grabbed his sword, which he had dropped, and went to rush back over to his squad. He then felt Nate place a hand on his shoulder and turned Matt to face him.

"Eleven o'clock at the edge of the forest. Meet me in the woods, tonight." Nate spoke swiftly.

Matt blinked rapidly. "What? Why?"

"I just want to talk." Nate responded bluntly, before he turned away and ran off into the woods, trying not to be seen by the others.

Puzzled, Matt watched as Nate ran off. He shook the thought off and ran back to help his squad.

 

 

It took a little while, but Matt, Stephanie Jason and Jack managed to escape the forest and run into Gate without any major scars.

"Fuck. That was something." Jack commented as they entered the safety that Gate provided them.

Jason nodded. "I'm going to head up to AJ and report the manticore. That monster could become serious if we don't deal with it soon."

Stephanie nodded. "I'll come with you." She offered.

Jason turned to Jack and Matt. "What are you two going to do?"

"I'm probably going to get some lunch then I'll visit Mark." Jack responded.

"Mind if I come?" Matt asked.

"Not at all."

Stephanie and Jason walked off to the main building while Matt and Jack wandered to the dining hall. Matt walked alongside Jack, falling into thought about what Nate had said. _Eleven o'clock at the edge of the forest. Meet me in the woods, tonight. I just want to talk._  Matt felt perplexity build up inside of him. _Why does he want to talk to me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I just want to ask you something. If after this book and the sequel I'm planing after it, would you be interest on a prequel on how the Light Keeper cities (Gate, Harmony, Opal, Sol and Thunder) came to be and how the Light Keepers first found out about the supernatural creatures of the world? They will most likely not be any Youtuber in it, mainly oc's. Would anyone be interested cause I'd quite like to write about that.


	19. Meet Me In The Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

A loud roar caused Nate to snap awake. It was early and the sun hit his skin gently from the shade of the tree he was resting under. He quickly got to his feet and looked around. _Manticore._  Panicking, as he was unsure where the monster was, Nate leaped through the trees like a squirrel. He eventually stooped as he looked at the scene in front of him. Four Light Keepers were attempting a battle against the manticore, two of them shooting at it from afar and the other two charging at it to land some hits on the monster's ankles. Nate swallowed. _A manticore and four Light Keepers? Not for me, thanks._  Deciding to get out of there, Nate manoeuvred back through the trees. He didn't make it too far when a sudden, powerful gust of wind, which Nate presumed was caused by the manticore's wings, caused Nate to be thrown off his feet. Thinking rapidly, he reached out his hands and hooked his arm around a nearby tree trunk, and dug his nails deep into the bark. He landed his feet on the branch under him and held on until the gust stopped. He looked up to see one of the Light Keepers get blown back next to the ravine. Nate blinked when he recognised the Light Keeper as Matt, and watched, with a small about of horror, as the ground beneath him collapsed and he dug his hands into to side of the ravine, clinging for life. Nate couldn't looked away. _Why am I troubling myself with this Light Keeper? Sure, he's cute but, I should stop risking my own life for his!_  Nate bitterly told himself. But Nate looked at Matt, who was in peril- and for once in his life, he remembered something from when he was human.

 

 

 

 

 

Nate stared in horror as Matt was knocked away by something. "Matt!" Nate called after him and watched as Matt vanished from view. He couldn't see very well, rain pelted down on his glasses and made everything around him look blurry. "Fuck it." He mumbled, taking off his glasses and putting them in his pocket. He was about to run were he saw Matt disappear too, but something must have blocked him as he ran into something invisible and fell back on the ground. Nate shuffled away, terrified. He was just helping out a squad with a recon mission before he left for the camping trip the next morning and on their way back to Gate, they had been ambushed by a pack of werewolves, apparently. Nate couldn't see them, so he just took the squad's word for it. Nate heard a gunshot as the 'werewolf' that was in front of him fell to the ground, dead.

"Nate, we'll hold them off you, quickly help Matt up!" He heard Austin order him.

Scrambling back to his feet, Nate rushed over to where Matt had disappeared to, and found himself standing at the edge of a ravine- Matt dangling over the ravine, hands dug into the mud of the side and begging for his life.

"Nate!" Matt yelled helplessly.

Nate was filled with panic. "I'm here. I'll get you out of this." Nate tried to reassure but he knew he failed when he heard his own voice shake. Forcing the panic away, Nate lay down on his stomach and reached his hand down to Matt. Matt was reluctant to let his grip off the dirty wall but he eventually moved on hand to try and grab Nate's. Nate stretched his fingers, his brushing against the tip of Matt's. Suddenly, the earth under him collapsed greatly, causing the wall that Matt was holding onto to the break off and fall into the ravine.

"Matt!"

 

 

Nate snapped into present time, watching the soil around Matt start to crumble apart. _No! I can't let another Matt fall to their demise!_  Building up courage, Nate sprinted out of the tree and reached out as the earth under Matt collapsed. Nate reached out, and hope filled him as his grasp tightened around Matt's wrist. Matt looked up at him in shock.

 "I can't pull you up alone, Light Keeper, I'll need you try and and help me." Nate snapped.

 Matt nodded quickly. He placed his other hand and feet against the side of the ravine and tried to wall climb up it, Nate pulling him up as he did. The earth around them crumbled rapidly. Matt reached his front half of his body over the ledge and Nate hauled the rest of him over. Nate then dragged Matt away as the ledge collapsed into the ravine. Nate stumbled onto his feet and offered a hand to Matt.

"Thank you." Matt blessed Nate, trying to meet his gaze.

Nate stayed quiet, and didn't meet Matt's eyes. _He looks so much like him. He couldn't be him, could he? But Matt fell to his death..._

"Matt!"

Nate snapped back into reality as he heard a female Light Keeper call Matt's name. "I'm fine! I'm coming back!"

Before Matt could move away, Nate grabbed his shoulder and turned him to face him. _He even has his eyes._  "Eleven o'clock at the edge of the forest. Meet me in the woods, tonight." Nate spoke swiftly.

Matt blinked rapidly. "What? Why?"

"I just want to talk." Nate responded bluntly, before he turned away and ran off into the woods, trying not to be seen by the others. He rushed up a tree and looked down, to where he had just saved Matt. Nate felt his toes curl. He remembered something from his human life; his friend Matt, who had ended up falling to his death because Nate couldn't save him. _But I saved this Matt. Not only that, but this Matt looks so similar and sounds like him. Is this the same Matt? Maybe he never died._  "Matt." He spoke softly to himself. "Please be the Matt I knew as a human."

 

 

 

10:55 came and Matt looked at his clock silently. He lay on his bed; he had come back from dinner and visiting Mark and he then fell on his bed for about forty-five minutes, unsure if he should meet Nate in the woods. _I just want to talk._  Talk about what? Nate almost ate him alive a couple of weeks ago, did he forget that? Matt sighed. He sat up, grabbing his sword key chain, a pistol, which he loaded with a flame infused bullet that he had made in spells class, night vision pills, and his necklace of fire resistance, just in case the wendgio attacked him and he ended up setting the forest on fire. He placed one of the night vision pills on his tongue, and used water from his bathroom tap to swallow it. He placed the key chain in his pocket, necklace around his throat and pistol in his belt. He quietly left, locked his room, and headed for the edge of the forest. _Why am I doing this?_  Matt questioned himself, but didn't answer himself.

 He arrived at the edge of the forest, his night vision pill had kicked in, so the world around him was clear and beautiful. All the night vision pill did was lighten the person's vision so that they can see in dark places. Inhaling, Matt walked out of the force field that protected Gate. Matt only walked a few footsteps until he heard something- singing.

"I remember tears streaming down your face when I said, 'I'll never let you go'. When all those shadows almost killed your light."

Uplifted from the singing, Matt followed the voice as it continued.

"I remember you said, 'Don't leave me here alone.' But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight. Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now. Come morning light; you and I'll be safe and sound."

Matt stopped and hid himself behind a tree when he saw Nate. The wendigo was leaning back against the tree, singing loudly and beautifully.

"Don't you dare look out your window, darling, everything's on fire. The war outside our door keeps raging on. Hold onto this lullaby even when the music's gone. Gone. Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now. Come morning light; you and I'll be safe and sound."

Nate started humming gently. Matt stayed silent, not wanting to interrupted him. He then carried on. "Just close your eyes. You'll be alright. Come morning light. You and I'll be safe and sound."

Matt watched as Nate closed his eyes, taking in the words of the song he just sang. Matt moved from his hiding place. "That was really nice." Matt praised the wendgio.

Nate turned around and looked at him in shock. "Shit, I didn't know you were there." He moved his gaze away from Matt. "I didn't think you'll actually come."

"I surprised myself." Matt commented. "Anyway, you said you wanted to talk?" 

Nate slowly moved his light brown gaze over to Matt. Despite the sharpness in them from his wendigo side, they were filled with warmth. "Your name is Matt, isn't it?"

Matt swallowed. "Yes. And you're, Nate right?"

Nate blinked, Hope glittered in his eyes for some reason. "That's me, yes. Matt." Nate stood straight up and walked over to Matt a bit. Matt backed away a footstep and reached his hand over the handle of his pistol.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Nate reassured.

"Last time, you ripped a hole into my shoulder." Matt growled.

Nate looked down apologetically "Sorry. It's become infected hasn't it?"

"How do you know that?" Matt questioned, his hand moving away from his pistol.

"I can smell the infection." He then looked back up at Matt. "Why haven't you gotten it treated?"

Matt opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out.

"Take your shirt off." Nate said suddenly.

Matt blinked multiple times. "Excuse me?"

"Take your shirt off." Nate repeated. "I want to look at the wound."

Silence fell across the two. Matt bit his lip before grabbing his shirt and pulled it over his head and placed it on the ground next to him. He forced himself to stay still as Nate walked up to him and place his hands over his shoulder, tracing his fingers around the injury. "Wait here. I'll be a few minutes." Nate told him. "Also, keep your shirt off."

"Why do you want me to keep my shirt off?"

"Two reasons. One; I want to help you to clean up the wound. Two; you're cute without your shirt on." Nate smirked.

Matt felt himself glow with blush and turned his head away from Nate, who gave him a smile before walking off. His face still red, Matt crossed his arms and looked up at the star filled sky, the night vision pill making it look a lot brighter coloured. He waited. The raw air hit his skin and Matt hugging himself to try and warm himself up. Nate came back into view, Matt noticed he had a dark blue flower and a small amount of mushrooms in his hand.

Nate observed Matt hugging himself in the bleak wind. "Sorry, I forgot that humans get affected by the cold." He picked off the petals from the blue flower and, along with the mushrooms, shoved them in his mouth and started chewing them. Matt watched as Nate made a face but he continued to chew. 

"So you can't feel the cold?" Matt asked.

Nate shook his head. "Nope." He spoke with his mouth full of plants. "Wendigo skin is hardened and layered; which makes us resist the cold and sharp blades." He put his hand to his mouth and coughed violently. He then spat out a dark, coloured paste, which Matt guessed was formed after Nate chewed the petals and mushrooms together, and he rubbed it over Matt's infected shoulder wound. Matt expected it to sting, but it didn't; it was actually pretty soothing.

Nate finished wiping the paste over Matt's shoulder and moved away. "That should heal overnight."

"Thank you." Matt thanked quietly. He looked up at Nate. "Nate, why didn't you let me fall? I mean, I'm a Light Keeper, you hate us."

Nate blinked slowly, eyeing every detail on Matt's face. "Because I failed to save you from falling the first time."

"Sorry?"

 Nate looked down hopelessly. "Of course you wouldn't remember, you probably hit your head on a rock or something after you fell, it'll explain why you don't recognised me."

Matt opened his mouth to ask what he was talking about but a sudden breeze caused him to shut it and hug himself to try and warm up. Nate leaned down and picked up Matt's shirt and handed it to him. Matt nodded and took it from him gratefully. Before he could put it on, Nate pulled in him for a sudden hug. Matt was confused. He wanted to wiggle out of the wendigo's arms, but after standing with his shirt off for a few minutes in the frozen night, Nate's warm hug was nice.

"I know you're probably confused as shit, and you may not remember me; heck, I might be talking to the wrong person entirely." Nate snorted. "But if it is you, Matthew Patrick, come and meet me here tomorrow night as well, I want to see you again."

Matt stiffened. Nate knew his full name. He wanted to know more about the wendigo- about the Light Keeper that committed cannibalism five years ago. "I'll be here." Matt promised.

Nate pulled away, gazing at Matt calmly. He gave a friendly smile before turning away and walking off. Suddenly, Matt's mind made a connection. _Oh yeah. It was a different Matt who was friends with Nate. A different Matt that looked like you, acted like you, had the same last n-Ouch!_  Morgan's voice echoed in his mind. She was going to say last name, but the AJ shut her up. Matt's eyes widened. "AJ." He spoke aloud. _AJ_ _knows something about me- so does Morgan. She tried to tell me, but AJ forced her to be quiet. The dream I had last night; it wasn't a dream. AJ took away my memories and is trying to hide the truth from me._  Rushing to put his shirt back on, Matt ran out of the woods and back to the dormitories. He would sleep, have tomorrow's classes, then confront AJ- then meet up with Nate again. Matt's blood was boiling. _AJ knows something about me, and I'm going to find out what it is._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Nate sings is 'Safe and Sound' By Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars.


	20. GHOST's agreement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Nate tore into the flesh of a human that he managed to catch and pinned to the ground, trying to avoid the look on the human's face, which made him feel guilty. The human squirmed under his grasp, but Nate forced the human to stop by sinking his teeth into his prey's throat and ripped it off. The human then went limp, him watched as the life drained from their eyes as he chewed joyously on the human meat in his mouth. He swallowed before ripping into the human's skin more times, until it was nothing but a mangled corpse. Nate looked down at the eaten away human in front of him, and blinked slowly. _I caused this. I rip apart families and friendships, just because I need to so I can survive._  Nate licked the blood from around his hand, tasting the metallic flavour of the red liquid. He fell deep in thought. Since his first human memory returned, more have been slowly following. He remembered talking to a large group of people, he remembered talking to Matt a lot- because he was his crush as a human, he remembered being trained by someone, who he couldn't remember the name of, about healing herbs and plants. He remembered going on a camping trip with his friends, only to be taken away and watch them get eaten alive- and for Nate himself to become the beast that took away his friends that night. Nate sighed. _I was starving. I was scared to die. After my teeth met the tissue of the dead human arm, I changed myself._ "This is my punishment." Nate mumbled.

Nate walked away from the bloody scene he had created and climbed up a tree to sleep in. He sat on a sturdy branch, placed his back against the tree trunk and took off his glasses to neatly place them in his pocket. He wiped his hand over his mouth and ran his tongue over his lips to get rid of any remaining stains of blood. Nate gave a tiny yawn, and smiled to himself. He was excited to see Matt again tomorrow night. The cute brown haired Light Keeper, that seemed identical to his childhood friend and crush and gave him a huge deja vu moment when he almost fell into the ravine and fell to death, agreed to meet him again. Nate rolled his head to is left and blinked when a glistening mixture of pink and yellow caught his attention. Nate pricked his ears and looked around him. When he was positive that there was no danger around him, he jumped down from his tree and approached the dazzling object. When Nate got closer, he made out the shape of the object, a flower. It was a medium sized flower, being the size of Nate's palm, its yellow and pink petals glimmering in the moonlight; it also had a lavender-like fragrance. Nate was worried that it might burn him because of how bright it was. He slipped his fingers under it and picked it off its stem and examined it. Nate smiled as the name of it came to him. A Purity Flower. What Nate found amusing is that be remembered the name, but he didn't remember what it does. Was it a healing herb? A poisonous flower? Or just a normal little flower? He placed the flower gently in his pocket, thinking if he found that it was useful for Light Keepers, he could offer a trade of some sort. Stretching his arms, Nate climbed back up the tree and sat himself down, and closed his eyes, ready for sleep to engulf him.

 

 

 

The irritating beeping of Matt's alarm woke him up abruptly. He waited for a moment before hitting his hand on it and got out of bed. He gave a quick glance at his timetable for today, before rolling out of his bed. He opened up his wardrobe and grabbed some clothes to get changed into. He threw off his nightwear top and his eyes immediately looked at the wound on his shoulder-or what was left of it. The wound had almost completely healed; it was still covered with the paste Nate put over it but the wound was nothing but a faint scar. Matt was astonished at how quickly it worked. He needed to remember to thank Nate tonight when they met up again. Matt smiled lightly. He was looking forward to seeing Nate again; there so much mystery that surrounded him and Matt was desperate to learn more- he wanted to learn about his friend that he forgot about. The smile on Matt's face went as he reminded himself. Matt and Nate were apparently close friends as Light Keepers five years ago, Morgan tried to tell him but AJ silenced her before she could reveal anything drastic. However, Matt made the connection that he and Nate were buddies as Light Keepers and something happened to Matt which caused him to forget everything. That something being that AJ took his memories away and apparently destroyed them as well. Matt frowned. He was determined to talk to AJ and asked him why, but he had to get through today first.

Matt packed his bag for today's lessons (which were healing herbs and plants class, Dangerous Monster class, and double weapon training) and headed out of his room and onto the tube train for breakfast. He sat on the train until it approached his stop. The doors opened at the dining hall stop and Matt got up and out of the train. When he exited, his gazed briefly met with a female Light Keeper with light brown, chin length hair and dull green eyes. They passed each other and Matt just noticed the clothing she was wearing was very different from the other Light Keeper's. Her clothing was elegant dress which was a mixture of blues and purples and on the back of her dress was a picture of two waves of water crashing into each other and a small white circle in the middle of it. She walked doff onto the train and Matt continued his way to the dining hall. _Who is she?_ Matt wondered. He quickly shook of the thought as he entered the building and picked up some food for breakfast before sitting at a table. Jason and Stephanie joined him seconds after and Jack joined them a few minutes in. They ate happily, talking and laughing, except for Jack, who Matt guessed was getting worried about Mark. It's been a little over a month since Mark came back infected by a demon and going through demon transformation himself. He may still have five months before the transformation is complete, which means five months to find a Purity Flower, but with how many people say how rare they are, it may not happen.

The doors to the dining hall opened as a centaur walked through them, his hooves clicking against the floor. "Has anyone here got a memory class between today and next week?" He called."

Matt stiffened. _Memory class?_  A few hands raised in the room, but not too many.

"Alright, those lessons will either have a substitute teacher or be cancelled for the next week since AJ has left and is going to be out for a week."

  
_Damn it!_  Matt thought bitterly. He had to wait a week until he could confront AJ? Confused mutters broke out between the Light Keeper students.

"Sir, do you know why he's leaving?" A student questioned.

"He's meeting up with the other GHOST leaders to discuss some things." The centaur responded before walking out the room and shutting the doors behind him. Slowly, the chatter in the room picked up. Matt looked over to Stephanie, Jason and Jack. "Memory class?" He questioned.

"It's the class that is unique to Gate, but you don't get the class until you reach the three star rank, since it's pretty dangerous." Jason replied.

Matt coked his head to one side. Stephanie snorted. "Haven't you read any of the Light Keeper's history?"

"No, I haven't had time." Matt answered.

"Shit, get prepared for a history lesson." Jack muttered.

Stephanie nudged him before speaking. "Many years ago, they were only a small amount of Light Keepers and all of them hid away from the supernatural side of the world. However a small group of about twelve thought that it was time to stand up and find a away to survive with these monsters around. They left the place that they were hiding to try and live in the world full of monsters. They all roughly split up into five different camps, which slowly grew bigger as more Light Keepers came and joined them. Afterwards the camps grew more and into the five main Light Keeper cities; Gate, Harmony, Opal, Sol and Thunder, or GHOST. GHOST signed an agreement together to help get rid of the supernatural threats of the world. Each camp had their strengths, each had their weaknesses. Soon the founders of GHOST found five unique abilities which humans could use to help them fight against the supernatural and they decided to split it; one unique ability between each city. Harmony's Light Keepers got the ability to calm any human and some dangerous monsters with a touch and help reveal stress and anxiety. Opal's Light Keepers got the ability to see future events, prophecies and even manipulate time to some degree. Sol's Light Keepers got the ability to turn their weapons into powerful 'cursed' weapons, which can give them overpowered stuff like swords that can pierce a wendigo's skin. Thunder's Light Keepers have the ability to create mind blowing technology such as holograms and teleporters, also their traps are very strong and effective. Finally Gate's Light Keepers have the ability to repair, rewrite, remove, or create memories."

"And that's what memory class is. It's Gate's unique class which teaches us how to do all that memory stuff." Jason added.

"Right, makes sense." Matt nodded. His mind drifted off. _So that definitely confirms that AJ removed my young Light Keeper memories. He must have as also created memories, which made me believe that my parents died_.

"Aw, come on! We have to wait until we upgrade to three star until we can do memory shit? It sounds so badass!" Jack complained.

Stephanie shrugged. "It's dangerous magic."

"I can imagine." Matt muttered.

Their conversation came to a stop as breakfast ended. They all left and hopped onto the tube train to their lessons. Matt sighed to himself. He really wanted to encounter AJ and question him about his past, but now he had to wait until next week. _Well, I guess I still have meeting up with Nate to look forward too._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Random question; Based on the brief descriptions on their abilities, out of the five Light Keeper cites (Gate, Harmony, Opal, Sol and Thunder) which would you join/be apart of and why?


	21. Who Tells Your Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewacther for helping me edit this chapter :)

Nighttime fell and the time was now 10:58. Matt got up from lying on his bed and went to leave his room so he could meet up with Nate. He opened the door and sneaked out of the dormitories and outside. AJ continuously came into his mind; he really wanted to question the leader of Gate, but he's gone for a week.  _If this is Nate, then we should have been really close friends. Maybe Nate could tell me a bit about my past Light Keeper life_. He approached the forest and entered it, roughly going in the same direction that he went last time. He then came across where Nate was, leaning against a tree and greeted Matt with an energetic nod when he emerged into view.

"Good to see you again, Matt." Nate smiled in greeting.

Matt nodded in response and muttered "Hi."

"I can tell by your tone that something's wrong." Nate spoke instantly. "What is it?"

Matt walked up to him and lent next to him on the tree. "Nate, we were friends when you were human right?"

"Yep." Nate responded his eyes warm as he looked at Matt. "You remember me now?"

Matt shook his head gently. "No, I don't, sorry." He watched as Nate's eyes clouded with disappointment. "Nate, I had my young memories of being a Light Keeper erased.

Nate's head suddenly snapped up and looked at him, he stayed quiet, indicating he was listening. Matt found himself diving into detail about how he was brought the Gate by Jason and Stephanie, to overhearing that Gate's leader AJ, had wiped his memories away. He also told him that Morgan managed to slip out that he and Nate were friends before AJ forced her to become silent.

After Matt finished his story, Nate looked dumbfounded. "That's outrageous! He took your memories away and he's trying to hide the fact that he did?"

"I think so." Matt gazed up at the wendigo. "That's why, Nate- I wanted to asked you if you could tell me about our friendship. So I have a rough idea."

Nate bit his lip. "I don't remember much of my human life Matt, only bits and pieces."

"But surely you must remember something from when we were young Light Keepers."

Nate cocked his head to one side. "Light Keepers?"

Matt stayed silent for a moment. "Yeah."

"Matt, I was born a Normal. I didn't see any supernatural shit until I committed cannibalism."

"You weren't. You were born as a Light Keeper who didn't have the ability to see the supernatural elements of the world. You were sent from Opal to Gate for some special training. You had your familiar named Bowser-"

"Shut up." Nate hissed brutally. "God, you're repeating the same shit Austin said to me."

Silence fell across the two for a moment, before Matt built himself up the courage to speak. "If two people have told you the same thing, surely it must be true. You can't remember your human life, we're trying to help you, but you're blocking us out; you're blocking out the truth."

Nate frowned at the ground. "No. I'm not related to the bastards that killed Hunter."

_He must be a friend Nate had as a wendigo._  "Nate, I know it can be hard to accept the truth sometimes, I'm still struggling to accept that I've been lied to my entire life. My parents sent me away with no memory of who I really was. You woke up one morning with no memory of your entire human life. So Nate, we need to help each other out. It's painful not knowing about our true selves so please; tell me what you remember about our friendship from five years ago and I'll tell you what I recall about you as a human."

Nate didn't look up at him, he kept his amber eyes fixed to the ground. Matt blinked at him a few times, before he turned his head away and stood up, ready to make his way back to Gate.

"We were close friends." Nate suddenly spoke up. Matt turned around to face him, relief filled him as Nate continued. "You were such a nerd, getting top marks in your lessons, trying to revise ahead of other students- other Light Keepers in your class. I was stuck helping the Gate nurses heal those who got injured; but we met because of that. One of the other Light Keepers got jealous of your cleverness and shoved a memento mori down your throat to poison you.  Me and some other nurses spent ages trying to get it out of you before the toxic killed you. We saved you and we talked to each other while you recovered. After that day, you popped by everyday and we became really close."

Matt looked at Nate dumbfounded as he finally broke his gaze away from the ground and met Matt's. "Sorry that I went silent, having you around makes me have flashbacks to my human life and I just got caught in one. Sorry I yelled at you, you were right. I was being too arrogant to believe it. I didn't think anyone knew me better than me."

Matt giggled lightly. "You wouldn't except someone to know you better than yourself."

"I feel like an arsehole for shouting at you. I'm really sorry." Nate bowed his head apologetically.

"It's alright. It's a friend's job to be arseholes to each other after all." Matt responded. He noticed that Nate's eyes glowed when he said 'friends'.  _He's been alone for years. Sure, he had Hunter but after he died, Nate was probably devastated. He deserves more friends._

"Thank you Matt." Nate thanked, he adjusted his glasses. "If you need my help with anything, let me know."

"Sure thing- actually, you can help with something."

"What's that?"

"One of my squad members has been Marked by a demon and is going through demon transformation. The flower we need to cure it is really rare and it would really help if you could help search for it."

"Sure, what does it look like and what is the flower called?"

"A Purity Flower. It's a pink and yellow petalled flower."

Matt watched as Nate flinched. A smile went across his face and Matt watched in astonishment as he pulled the flower Matt had just described to him from his pocket.

"So that's what a Purity Flower does? It heals humans going through transformations." Nate smirked. He walked up to Matt and offered the fuchsia and gold flower to him.

Matt took it slowly. "Are you serious? You're just going to give it to me? You don't want to trade or anything?"

Nate smiled. "We already have traded. You've helped knock some sense and humanity into me, I gave you the Purity Flower."

"Thank you so much." Matt spoke barely in a whisper.

Surprise then filled Matt as Nate put his hand on the back of Matt's head and gave him a soft, quick kiss on the forehead. Matt felt his face light up with blush but Nate quickly moved away and turned his head around. He begun to walk away. Matt coughed lightly. "I'll come by tomorrow night and let you know how it went." He called after Nate.

Nate whipped his head around, Matt noticed that his own face was pretty red. "Okay, I'll see you here tomorrow night then."

Matt beamed before turning around and headed back to Gate.

 

 

 

Nate watched as Matt skipped back to Gate, he smiled after him and watched as he lost sight of the Light Keeper as the night and trees swallowed him. Nate looked down to his own bare feet. He was elated that him kissing Matt on the forehead hadn't put the Light Keeper off of meeting him. Nate continued to grin to himself as he begun to sing to himself.

"Let me tell you what I wish I’d known, when I was young and dreamed of glory. You have no control. Who lives, who dies, who tells your story? Every other founding father story gets told. Every other founding father gets to grow old. But when you’re gone, who remembers your name? Who keeps your flame? Who tells your story? Who tells your story? I put myself back in the narrative. I stop wasting time on tears. I live another fifty years, it’s not enough. And I’m still not through I ask myself, 'What would you do if you had more time?' The Lord, in his kindness, he gives me what you always wanted. He gives me more time. And when my time is up, have I done enough? Will they tell our story? And when my time is up, have I done enough? Will they tell my story?" He paused for a moment to look back in the direction he saw Matt leave in. "Oh, I can’t wait to see you again. It’s only a matter of time. Will they tell your story? Who lives, who dies, who tells your story? Will they tell your story? Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?" Nate drifted off at the end, turned around to find a suitable tree to climb and sleep in for the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that Nate sings is "Who lives, who dies, who tells your story" from the musical; Hamilton.


	22. Healed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Matt practically jumped out of his bed the next morning. It was the weekend, so there were no lessons for today. Most Light Keepers would take this as an opportunity to sleep, but Matt was eager to find Jack. Nate had given him a Purity Flower last night, but he decided to sleep first, since it was about 00:45 when he got back to the dormitories. He had slept and now he wanted to find Jack and give him the good news. He swiftly changed out of his nightwear and into his daily clothes and rushed out of his room, the Purity Flower in his hands. He rushed over to Jack's room and knocked on it lightly. It took awhile until Matt heard a tired reply.

 

"Who is it?" Jack grunted sleepily.

"Jack, it's Matt." Matt announced himself.

Another muttered phrase was heard in his room, a little scrambling, and then the door opened. The Irishman stood there, his eyes closed as he rubbed them, and his green hair was untidy. "What is it, Matt?"

"Jack, I found a Purity Flower."

Jack's eyes instantly darted open and Matt held the Purity Flower out to show him. Jack's eyes widened and a hopeful smile grew on his face. "Wait right fucking there. I'm getting changed and we're heading down to the hospital building."

"Sure." Matt smiled and watched as Jack closed the door. He didn't wait long, three minutes at max, until Jack exploded out of his room, dressed and hair neatened. He grabbed Matt's wrist and dragged him along. "I can walk myself, Jack!" Matt snorted.

"Sorry!" Jack apologised happily.

They ran onto the tube train and told the fawn to go to the Gate, hospital building. Jack then tilted his head. "Where did you find the Purity Flower?"

"Um, I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk around the city, and I just found it growing at the border of the forest." Matt lied. He felt bad, and he knew that Jack knew Nate, but he didn't want to drag him into it. Luckily for him, Jack didn't question him further. A few stops later, they arrived at the hospital building, left the train and entered the building, and both of them rushed to the room where Mark was being kept in.

A nurse with dark blonde hair noticed them. "Slow down, your footsteps are going to wake all the patients-" her eyes then focused of the Purity Flower in Matt's grasp. "You found a Purity Flower." She spoke almost in a whisper.

"Yes, he did. Please Amanda, give it Mark and heal him of his transformation!" Jack pretty much begged.

Matt offered Amanda the pink and gold flower, and she took it lightly off of him. "I'll get this turned into a pulp right away. You two head to breakfast and come back; the effects of a Purity Flower work pretty quickly so when you come back, Mark should be well." Jack and Matt both nodded fervently before walking out and heading for the dining hall.

 

It only took a few minutes until they got there. It was pretty empty since it was the weekend and everyone was mainly still asleep. They both grabbed a plate of food and sat down. Matt was taking his time to eat while Jack was wolfing down his breakfast. Matt laughed at him as he looked like a hamster who had shoved a ton of food into their cheeks. "Sure you don't want to slow down? It's not like Mark's going anywhere."

Jack attempted to speak but his words were muffled by the food in his mouth. Both of them smirked at his failed attempt to speak before Jack paced himself and chewed his mouthful. He swallowed before repeating what he said. "I'm sorry, but it's so rare that we find a Purity Flower before the transformation finishes, so I'm relieved as fuck."

Matt raised a curious eyebrow. "What are the odds that you find a Purity Flower in time?"

Jack bit his lip. "I'm not quite sure, but it's something like out of one hundred people, only six get a Purity Flower in time."

"Shit; that's pretty low."

"Oh my god, Matt just swore! It's the end of the world!"

Matt cackled and Jack grinned to himself. They finished their meal and got up and hastily headed back onto the tube train to head out to the hospital building. They sat on the train, as their stop was a bit away.

"Excuse me?"

Matt and Jack looked around to see a female with short, light brown hair and bright eyes who was wearing a blue and purple dress. _She's the Light Keeper I saw the other day._

"Hi, I went to the main building here to try and find your leader but he wasn't there, any ideas where he could be?" She asked politely.

"He's gone out for a GHOST's meeting. He'll be back in a week." Matt answered her.

"Oh, looks like my timing was pretty shit." She mumbles to herself.

Jack eyed the clothing she was wearing. "Purple and blue, those are the colours of Opal."

"Yep, my name's Dodger." She replied avidly. "I came to get my gift from your leader."

Matt cocked his head. "Gift?" He question. He looked over to Jack but he seemed to be just as confused.

"Yes. Opal's leader, Max, died last night from an infected basilisk bite and I've been named his successor. I've been going to each of the five cities to get my leader's gift." She responded quietly.

Jack bowed his head in respect. "I'm sorry to hear that. I wish you luck on becoming Opal's next leader."

Dodger smiled in reply. "Thank you, the pressure is scary but I think I'll cope. I'll come back in a week then. I wish you two luck on your training."

Matt nodded. "Thank you."

The train stopped at the hospital building.

"This is our stop." Jack commented before turning to Dodger. "It was nice meeting you. I pray for you and Opal."

She nodded lightly. "I pray you you and Gate. Maybe I'll see you both at the GHOST Gathering." She waved as Matt and Jack exited the train and they waved back before the train doors separated them.

Matt turned to Jack. "Gift? GHOST Gathering? I still have a lot to learn." Matt commented.

"We all do." Jack replied.

Matt blinked. "You don't know what the gifts and GHOST Gathering are?"

"I don't know everything. I know that the gifts are special abilities that each city leader grants to new leaders. I've heard that the GHOST Gathering is a meeting that happens every now and then between GHOST leaders and a good few people from each city meet up to discus shit, but I've never been to one."

Matt and Jack broke off their conversation as they entered the hospital building. When entered, Jack was suddenly brought into a hug by a red and black haired male Light Keeper who was wearing glasses.

"Jack! Thank fuck, I didn't think I was going to be able to see you again." He choked out.

Jack hugged him back. "Mark, you're okay."

Matt couldn't help but smile sympathetically at the scene in front of him. He watched as Mark and Jack pulled away and kissed each other warmly. Mark's gaze then met with Matt's. "Who are you?"

"Matthew Patrick, but call me Matt." Matt introduced.

"Mark Fischback." Mark responded.

"Matt's a new member of our squad." Jack told his boyfriend. "He's also the one who found the Purity Flower for you."

Mark smiled at him in gratitude. "Thank you."

Matt shrugged. "It's nothing."

"Okay, now let's go and annoy Stephanie and Jason." Mark suggested.

Jack laughed. "Sure thing, let's go Matt!"

Mark, holding Jack's hand, ran out of the hospital building, Matt's smile following them before he did. _I'm glad Nate gave me that Purity Flower. Mark's now healed._  Matt then stopped and blinked. _If Purity Flowers cure humans going through transformation, then could Nate eat one and turn back human? His six months have already been up though, but he's still got his human appearance._  Thinking, Matt followed Mark and Jack to the train. _Because of his familiar, he's practically still half human, half wendigo- so would a Purity Flower work on him?_


	23. Decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Nate sat patiently on his tree, staring off into the distance of Gate, the direction which Matt would soon emerged from. It was almost eleven, or at least that's what he guessed from the positioning of the moon. He listened o the environment around him. The brushing leaves, silent birds, werewolves talking- what? _Werewolves?_  Nate tasted the air for the monsters; from what he could tell, there were only two of them, but still, werewolves could be quite troublesome- especially since Matt would be arriving in a bit. Nate sat up from his branch and listened around for them. He then picked up gruff growls of two male werewolves, they were probably in their wolf forms, despite that though, he could still understand what they were saying.

"We've been walking for ages and we haven't found anyone over here, maybe we should head back?" One of them barked.

"You really think our boss would be happy with us returning home without at least one new recruit, Jonathan?" The other snapped back.

"I guess not." Jonathan grumbled.

Nate watched as the two wolves appeared in his view, one with really dark fur and one with brown fur. Nate swiftly jumped down and landed in front of them, startling them. "Sorry, this is my territory." Nate surprised himself when he growled. _I guess I can speak werewolf as well huh?_

The brown furred wolf blinked at him. "You're a wendigo. And, you can talk werewolf?"

"Apparently, yeah." Nate mumbled.

"What do you mean apparently?" The dark furred wolf snarled.

"I didn't know that I could. I can speak human too, no idea why." Nate shrugged. He made his voice harsh. "Now, leave my territory."

The werewolves looked at each other before gazing back at Nate. The brown one spoke up. "Well, sorry for trespassing, we'll leave now."

Nate nodded but the dark furred wolf nudged the other before he could walk away. "Hold on! We have a chance to snag a new recruit here." He gazed back at Nate. "Mind if we talk for a bit?"

Nate looked back over his shoulder, he couldn't see or scent Matt yet. He turned back to the wolves. "Be quick." Nate hissed.

"Right, first things first, I'm Brett." The dark wolf introduce before flicking his tail at the other werewolf. "That's Jonathan."

"I'm Nate." Nate announced.

"Okay, Nate, nice to meet you." Jonathan nodded.

Nate nodded gently back before turning his gaze back to Brett as he began to talk. "Tell us Nate, have you ever had problems with Light Keepers in the past?"

Nate snorted. "What Dangerous or Cannibalistic Monster hasn't?"

"Okay. Second question, would you like to get back at them? Get back at them on what they did to you? Get back at them on the pain they've put your life through?" He asked.

Nate bowed his head in thought. The image of watching Hunter get devoured by the fire of the Light Keeper's flamethrower came to his mind and sent shivers down his spine. "Yes." He replied quietly. "I would." He spoke up.

"What if we were to tell you, that there's an uprising of Dangerous and Cannibalistic Monsters being formed."

Nate blinked. "An uprising? You mean, like a revolution?"

"If you want to call it that, then yeah." Jonathan barked. "You see, us monsters were the top predators we roamed the world as we pleased. But then, Light Keepers mysteriously started to be born and they overthrown us. Many years ago, Light Keepers feared us but now we fear them. We want to switch the tables once again, to go back to how it used to be, and we need every Dangerous and Cannibalistic Monster we can get to help us to make that a reality. So, would you be willing to help us?"

Both werewolves looked up at Nate. Nate bit his lip. Sure he hated Light Keepers, especially the ones that murdered Hunter- but what about Matt? Over the last few days, Nate had grown pretty attached to the adorable Light Keeper. Speaking of Matt, Nate flinched when the Light Keeper's scent wafted into his nose.

"Do I smell a human?" Brett then questioned.

"Alright both of you either stay there and stay hidden and do not make a single noise until I say you can, or you can fuck off and come back some other time." Nate ordered.

The werewolves looked at each other confused, before sitting themselves behind a tree and in the long, lush grass. Nate turned back around and headed into the clearing and watched as Matt walked into view. "Hi Matt, how did it go?" Nate asked in his human voice.

Matt's reply was rushing up to Nate and pulling him in for a hug. Nate was surprised by it, but hugged back anyway. "Okay, pretty enthusiastic tonight aren't you?" Nate smirked.

Matt and Nate both pulled away from their hug and Matt smiled. "Sorry! I'm just so happy. Mark's all better thanks to the Purity Flower you gave me and I just can't thank you enough for giving it to me."

Nate felt his face turn red. "It's nothing."

Matt then blinked at him. "That reminds me, Nate, you're still half human half wendigo. Would a Purity Flower work on you?"

Nate was discombobulated at the question. "What does a Purity Flower do again?"

"Heals humans going through transformation." Matt reminded him.

Nate looked up at the sky in thought. "I don't know. Transformation only lasts for six months before you fully turn and I've been like this for five years and I've developed wendigo behaviour and skills."

"But you still haven't completely formed into a wendigo."

Nate shrugged. "I'm not sure, but if we come across another Purity Flower, I guess I could try it."

 Matt then reached into his pocket. "I still feel like we didn't have a fair trade with the Purity Flower and I know fire burns you really badly." He said as he took out a necklace from his pocket, which had a little flame charm at the end of it. He then handed it to Nate. "I want you to have this."

Nate slowly took the necklace from Matt's hand and eyed it curiously.

"It's a necklace of fire resistance." Matt explained. "When you wear it, any burns you get won't be as harmful and won't likely to get infected."

Nate kept his gaze on the necklace of fire resistance. "Thank you." He blessed Matt who smiled in reply. Nate placed the necklace around his neck and hid it under his shirt so it wasn't noticeable. He moved his gaze to Matt, his eyes full of warmth and softness. Nate smiled and felt his face redden more, he couldn't help but look at every detail on the humans face- he was too cute not to. Taking a deep breath, Nate stepped closer to Matt, put his arm around Matt's waist and pulled him in for a kiss on the lips. He felt Matt stiffen with shock, but he didn't make an effort to pull away. Instead, after a few seconds, Matt closed his eyes and responded to the kiss, moving his lips in sync with Nate's. They stayed like that, absorbing the warmth of each others lips, for about a minute before both of them pulled away slowly, staring deep into each others brown eyes.

Matt then nuzzled his head into Nate's chest. "You're quite romantic, you know that?" He giggled.

Nate found himself hugging Matt closer to him. "I know that now."

"You liked me the moment you first saw me, didn't you?"

"Yes, yes I did."

It was Nate's turn to be surprised as Matt tugged away from Nate, put his hand on Nate's chin and pulled his head down for a slow kiss. When they broke away, Matt grinned. "Could I possibly stop by tomorrow night also?"

Nate smiled back at him. "Feel free." He said before planting a light kiss on Matt's forehead. Matt blinked before having to move away from Nate and head back to Gate for the rest of the night. Nate almost felt empty as he felt Matt leave him but he knew he would be back tomorrow night.

"Well, that was something I wasn't expecting."

Nate turned around to see Jonathan and Brett pad out into his view.

"Sorry, kind of forgot you two were there." Nate apologised in werewolf, now feeling embarrassed.

"It's fine." Brett grumbled. "But why are you seeing a Light Keeper?"

Nate met the werewolf's gaze. "Because he's an adorable dork; and I love him."

"They're a threat to our existence!" Brett snapped.

"To be fair, we became a threat to their existence first, they're just trying to defend themselves." Nate argued.

Brett's jaw fell open while Jonathan cocked his head to one side. Nate continued. "And as for that uprising? Sorry, not really interested. Now get the fuck out of my territory."

Jonathan shrunk his head back and began to walk away. Brett curled back his lips to reveal his teeth. "Fine then! Be like that, but once the uprising has successfully wiped out the Light Keepers, you'll feel stupid for not joining us." He sneered.

Nate bared his own wendigo teeth threateningly and watched as Brett's ear twitched before stalking away with Jonathan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #shamelessplug but here's a link to my deviantart if anyone wants to know, since I'll soon be posting art on some of the original characters such as the founder of the GHOST cities and other stuff.
> 
> http://weazelwolfieskybones.deviantart.com/


	24. Corruption Cough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

 

"A devil is the name for the alpha of a group of demons. If you manage to kill the devil, the rest of the demons will scatter and run off in panic. However, a devil is most likely well guarded and a lot stronger than the other demons-" 

Matt wrote down notes as the Cannibalistic Monster teacher continued with his speech on demons. He sat with his whole squad; Jason and Stephanie were taking notes and paying attention, Mark was jotting down notes every now and then, and Jack was mainly twirling his pen around his fingers continuously in boredom. Matt was focusing, however, every few seconds, his mind would jump back to thinking of Nate. A couple of days had passed since the wendigo surprised Matt by kissing him and Matt ended up kissing him back, and Matt was eager to see him again. They had planned to meet each other every night from eleven until midnight, then Matt would go home and sleep the rest of the night. The past few nights, they met up and talked about whatever they felt like, and exchanged a few kisses with each other before Matt had to head back to Gate. 

Matt gave a quiet but hoarse cough and he felt his squad look at him worriedly. After the day of his and Nate's first kiss, Matt got a irritant cough which clawed at his throat badly. He figure it was just a bad cough and he would get over it, but it had worsened. He felt as if he inhaled smoke from a fire and was coughing it all back up. His throat burned slightly and even swallowing caused him pain. He tried to ignore the pain that erupted in him as his cough got a little more violent. He put his hand over his mouth as he continued coughing. 

"Maybe you should go to the hospital building." Jason suggested. "That cough doesn't sound like it's getting better." 

"I'll be fine." Matt replied through the painful coughs. 

All of them eyed him doubtfully. Mark was the one who next spoke up. "Matt, as your squad leader, I'm concerned for your health. I don't know why you're so adamant on not getting this checked, but for your sake and ours, please get it checked if it doesn't get any better in the next few days." 

A few heartbeats passed before Matt nodded in defeat. "Fine, I'll get it checked tomorrow." 

Still looking uncertain, all of them turned their focus back to the lesson. 

  

The rest of the day was painful for Matt as his scratchy cough gradually got worse. He managed to pull through the remaining lessons, but he felt terrible. His esophagus felt parched and his lips became hard and dry. He felt light headed, weak, and he felt himself growing pale. He could barely eat any food at dinner time and he struggled to swallow a small amount of drink. In the end, he gave in and let Stephanie and Mark drag him on to the tube train to take him to the hospital building. They got off the tube train and walked inside the building and sat in the waiting room. Stephanie went up to the reception to asked for an appointment and Mark sat next to Matt as he unleashed another vicious round of coughs. Mark patted him in the middle of the back to help. Stephanie then walked back over to them. "Amanda will come as see you in a minute." She spoke, but Matt's only reply was a flurry of coughs. 

Mark frowned. "That really doesn't sound healthy. Sounds like you might have smoke cough or shadow cough." 

Matt finally finished his coughing fit. "I don't know." He grumbled gruffly. 

From the corridor, Matt heard a door open and watched as a dark blonde haired Light Keeper walked over to them. "Matthew Patrick?" She question. 

Matt nodded. He didn't speak just in case another outburst of coughs escaped him. 

"I'm Amanda Lee and I'll be checking this cough you have, please follow me." She instructed. 

Matt got up to his feet and followed her, Mark and Stephanie trailing behind him. Amanda led them to one of the hospital rooms and Matt sat down on the hospital bed, Amanda sat in the nurse's chair, and Mark and Stephanie stood in the corner of the room. 

"So how long has this cough gone on for?" Amanda questioned. 

"A few days. It was fine to begin with, but it's gotten worse." Matt gave a raspy response. 

"You definitely don't sound good." She commented. She put her hand over Matt's throat lightly. "Your throat doesn't feel swollen. Open your mouth, please." 

Matt was still for a few heartbeats, before opening his mouth; he could tell it was bad when he saw Mark and Stephanie's eyes widen. 

Mark blinked. "You look as if you've eaten charcoal." 

"Well I can assure you I haven't." Matt snorted before diving into another distressing coughing fit. He covered his mouth with his cupped hands. 

"Is it smoke or shadow cough?" Stephanie asked. 

Amanda shook her head. "If it was smoke cough, then he'd be coughing up smoke." After Matt's coughing fit ended, she grabbed Matt's hands and looked over them. "Doesn't look like you're coughing up blood, so it can't be shadow cough either." 

Matt looked uneasily over to Mark and Stephanie. Amanda let go of Matt's hands. "When you cough, what do you feel?" 

"I feel like my throat's burning and it feels like it's withering away." Matt responded as clear as he could. 

Amanda bit her lip. "I may have to take a spit sample, since I'm not even too sure what this is. In the meantime, Matt, you might have to rest here for a few days. I don't think training is going to help this get better." 

_But I'm meeting up with Nate every night!_  Matt wanted to burst out, but he kept quiet. He felt sick, weak, light headed- he needed rest. He had to hope that Nate took the hint that he wasn't well. Matt nodded before deciding to dig himself under the bed covers that he was sitting on. 

Amanda then turned to Mark and Stephanie. "I'll keep you two updated on how he feels." 

They nodded. Stephanie turned to Matt. "Hope you get better." She wished. 

Mark nodded at him. "Recover soon." 

Matt waved at them as they left the room. Amanda gave him a miniature tray for him to spit in so she could take it to be examined. She left him a large glass of water before she left. Matt attempted to drink the ice cold water. It ached so much to swallow, but the relief of having the soothing, cold liquid fall down his arid throat made him feel a lot better, and he forced himself to drink it. He then lay his head on the back of his fluffed up pillow. He still felt really dizzy and he could feel the colour drain from his skin. Matt let out one last savaged round of coughs, which felt like they were destroying his throat, before he exhaled and felt his body go limp. His eyes closed unwillingly and watched as the world around him went white and silent. 

  

_"He's lost two lives already! Why did we give him those lives if he's just going lose all of them before the time he needs them comes?"_

_"Sol, he's only a child."_

_"He isn't just a child, he's fucking eighteen!"_

_"He's still young and doesn't know the hidden world too well."_

_"Thunder's right. He'll soon learn the responsibility he has in our world."_

_"Yeah, he'll learn that responsibility once all of his lives are gone! Remind me why I agreed with you guys to give a human a supernatural ability?"_

_"I'm kind of with Sol on this one. Why did we give this Light Keeper the power of the stars? Why not just give the power to one of the current leaders?"_

_"Because, he's the only one who carries blood from all the cities. He's the only one capable with this power."_

_"If you say so , but he's already on his third life, so we better hope he doesn't lose too many more before the fight."_

 

 

Matt snapped his eyes open and breathed heavily. _What happened to me?_  He turned his head to see two figures sitting on the end of his bed. It took a while for his vision to focus and for him to recognise Amanda and AJ. Amanda looked relieved, while AJ looked at him with a blank expression. 

"I told you he would be fine." AJ muttered to Amanda. 

"And you expected me to believe you? He died!" Amanda snapped at her leader. 

Matt felt his entire body freeze. _I died?_  

"Well, he's fine. Can you leave for a moment? I need to talk to him about something." AJ asked. 

Amanda looked at him with uncertainty, before getting up and leaving the room. AJ turned his gaze to Matt. "You feeling okay?" 

Matt nodded lightly. "What happened to me?" 

AJ blinked slowly. "You got infected by corruption cough... and died." 

Matt's heart raced, his blood rushing. He scrambled up. "I'm not dead though! I'm right here!" 

AJ looked at him expressionlessly. "My mistake. You died only for a moment, then you revived yourself, completely healed from corruption cough." 

Matt stared at him, dumbfounded. "How?" 

AJ's blank expression turned serious. "Matt, I'm going to tell you something. You've probably figured out that I erased your memories as a kid and created new ones for you to make you believe you were a Normal." 

Matt nodded. 

"Well, I think it's about time you learned why. But this is between us, you must not tell this to anyone." 

Matt nodded again. 

AJ then took a deep breath. "Matthew, you were born with- well I wouldn't really call it a curse, more like a gift from our ancestors in the stars. You were born with nine lives."


	25. Nine Lives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

"I was born with nine lives?" Matt choked out. "But- how? I'm not a cat!"

"I never said you were a cat. Although, the nine lives would explain why your familiar's a cat." AJ grumbled.

Matt sat, mouth hung open, and eyes wide. He wasn't sure what to say. He didn't know if he should be shocked, scared, horrified, happy, or a mixture of all of them. He wasn't certain on what to think. In the end, all Matt managed to say was "Why? How?"

AJ shrugged. "I'm not sure why you were given these lives. Heck, I didn't know you had them until you lost your first one."

Matt eyed his leader. "When did that happen?"

AJ met his gaze. "Five years ago, you went out on a recon mission with Austin, Jared, Ian- and Nate. On the way back, you were ambushed by a pack of werewolves, and you fell into a ravine. A mixture of the fall and hitting your head hard against a rock ended up killing you. They managed to recover your body and bring you back. Your parents and I went to start a burial for you, but then we all watched as your head wound healed. The wound that killed you healed in front of our eyes. The colour in your skin returned and you started breathing again. We were confused and worried about what had just happened, but you seemed fine. We let you go to sleep before discussing what had just happened and what to do."

"And that discussion led to you coming up with the idea to wipe my memories away?"

"No. Matt, I didn't want to erase your memories, let alone send you away. You were a really shaping up to be a clever and strong Light Keeper, but your parents insisted. For your safety. They also wanted me to destroy your memories afterwards."

Matt swallowed. "Did you?"

AJ shook his head. "I couldn't. I managed to pull a trick to make your parents believe that I destroyed them. I took out your memories, hid them, duplicated them, and destroyed the duplicated ones to make your parents believe that I did. Your past memories are locked away in my room."

Matt moved his gaze down to the floor. His chest felt tight, despite no longer having the cough. "Where are my parents now?" He asked quietly.

He felt AJ get off the end of the bed as he stood up. "I believe they moved to Thunder.

"Do you think, that I could visit them? Or they could come over here?"

AJ was silent for a few heartbeats. "Matt. I know this has been incredibly stressful and difficult for you to take in, but I don't think your parents would be very happy to see you, and I don't think we should let them know that you're here."

Matt felt sadness swallowing him up. "But... I'm their son." He spoke in a whisper.

He felt AJ's pity filled eyes fall on him. "I broke their promise, so they'll most likely not be happy with me if they found out you were here."

"Promise?"

"They told me that if you ever found your way back to Gate, that they wanted me to erase your memories of it again and send you back to the Normal world. I couldn't go through with it. I promised just so they'd leave believing I would do so- but I didn't, hence why you're here now."

Matt put a hand to his head. "I feel more dizzy from all of this than I did from corruption cough."

"It's a lot to take in. If you want, I can give you the rest of the week off so you can get your head wrapped around the situation, otherwise you probably won't have the best focus in lessons."

It took a few seconds before Matt nodded. "Thank you. I think I'll need that." He then looked up at Gate's leader. "You said that you hid my memories, right? That you never destroyed them?"

AJ hesitated. "Yes."

"Could I- could I possibly have them back? I want to remember who I was."

AJ turned his head around to him, a small smile on his face. "You're pretty brave. Wanting to face the past that you can't remember." He reached his hand in his pocket, grabbed something, and threw it behind him to Matt, who cupped his hands and caught it. Matt looked at the thing that he had caught. It was a golden amulet, which had a green trophy engraved into it.

"I locked your memories inside that amulet." AJ explained. "Keep it in your possession and the lock spell on it will eventually wear off. When it does, your memories will return to you."

Matt held the amulet close to his chest. "Thank you."

AJ's tone became stern. "Matt, you've been given this gift. You've been give nine lives. I'm not sure how or why, but it's for something important. So, please preserve the seven lives you have left. Don't waste them on meeting up with Nate."

Matt flinched. "How did you-"

AJ turned fully to face him. "I examined your memories while you were going through revival. I can tell that you like him, love him even, but Matt, that's how you got corruption cough in the first place."

"How do you catch corruption cough then?" Matt raised a curious eyebrow.

"By hanging around a corrupted being. You've experienced it. Corruption cough is painful, deadly, and it can kill in only a few days. And if you keep going to meet up with Nate, you'll just catch it again and again, and it's difficult to treat in time before it kills you."

Matt was taken aback. "Nate is not a 'corrupted being'."

"He's a half human, half wendigo. A creature like that was never supposed to exist, but as his familiar is alive, it makes it possible. By the look on your face, I can tell you're angry with me for calling Nate corrupted, but he is. He's abandoned his human self, but he hasn't changed enough to become a full monster. I'm surprised he's survived like that for as long as he has. It's impossible to live with one hand in the human world and one in the monster world, you have to pick a side, but that isn't possible for Nate. He's passed the point of no return."

"But- what if he ate a Purity Flower?" Matt blurred out. "He's still technically going through transformation, right? So a Purity Flower should turn him back."

AJ sighed. "If I'm completely honest with you Matt, I don't think a Purity Flower would work on him. There's a small chance that it could, but I highly doubt it."

Matt opened his mouth to retaliate, but no words dared to come out to challenge his leader.

AJ then spoke up again. "If you still want to meet up with Nate, then go ahead and waste the gift that our ancestors have given you. If it would make you feel better, I'll send a high star ranked Light Keeper to search for a Purity Flower to see if it'll work on him."

Matt nodded slightly. "Thank you. But I'm still going to meet up with him." Matt breathed before then adding. "He's my boyfriend, after all."

AJ turned his back to him. "Very well. I won't stop you. It's your life, your choices, your consequences." He walked up to the door of the room. "Oh, by the way, it's probably for the best if all of this discussion we just had is kept between us."

"Yes sir." Matt responded blankly. He watched as AJ exited the room, before lying his head back against his pillow and gazing up at the ceiling in thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I'm sure all of you know that there is going to be a sequel after this but there's one thing I wanted to ask. After this book is done, would you want me to put a sneak preview of one of the chapters in the next book in as the final chapter of this book, or would you rather not and wait for the next one?
> 
> Also quick note, from August 27-September 4/5th I'll be off on holiday so no uploads between then and then school is a thing so that'll probably make uploads every 2-3 days depending on life and homework, just giving you a heads up :)


	26. Rogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

"Matt, can I come in?"

 

Matt awoke to the sound of Austin's voice. He was still in the hospital room, recovering from corruption cough and the confusing stuff that AJ told him. Matt looked over at the time. _11:30_. He grumbled. "Yes, Austin?"

Austin opened the door. For once, his familiar, Pixel, wasn't out. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Better." Matt yawned.

"So, some of us are going off to the GHOST Gathering, which happens every two or three months and AJ asked me to ask you if you want to come with, if you feel well enough to come." Austin told him.

Matt felt honoured. "Of course."

Austin smiled. "Get out of bed then, we're leaving in a few minutes. You should probably stay next to me, since you'll be around a lot of Light Keepers that you won't know."

Matt nodded eagerly, stepped out of bed, and walked out the room with Austin. Amanda gave him a small smile as he left. Austin led Matt over to a moderately sized group of Light Keepers. He recognised AJ at the front of the group and some of the group had familiar faces, since they were in his classes or he just saw them around. AJ looked over and nodded at Matt when he saw him next to Austin. They all followed AJ down to the tube train and got on. AJ told the fawn the destination and the train began to move. Matt managed to grab a seat and Austin sat next to him. Matt then whispered. "What is the GHOST Gathering?"

"It's just a meeting that happens between all of the GHOST cities every few months to talk about life, possible deals, and it gives us a chance to mingle with Light Keepers from other cities." Austin explained. 

Matt blinked with curiosity. "Has anything bad ever broken out between the cities? Like an argument or something?"

Austin nodded. "Yeah, arguments happen a lot- especially between Sol and Thunder."

"Why's that?"

"The two cities never really broke the ice with each other. Sol strives to make humanity the strongest specie and they hate pretty much every monster; and, well, Thunder's founder was actually a werewolf, so they don't really get along."

He and Austin continued to talk for the rest of the way and once the train stopped, they fell silent and walked out with the rest of the group. Matt looked at his surroundings. They were in the middle of a lush and sacred looking meadow, flowers decorating the grass, and the sky was alive with stars. Ahead of him, he could see four other groups of talking people and a large, tree stump in the middle of them. On the tree stump were four Light Keepers. Matt guessed that they were the leaders and his guess was proved correct when he recognised Dodger on it. AJ walked over to join them. The Light Keepers from Gate settled down.

"The leaders will talk about random shit and then we can mingle with other cities." Austin told him and Matt nodded in response. He looked around at the other cities, all of them looked fit and healthy-except for Thunder. All of the Light Keepers looked half starved and drained. Matt tapped Austin. "Do the Light Keepers at Thunder always look like that?"

Austin followed his gaze and frowned. "No. They were really powerful, but their leader died a few months ago without naming a successor." He then pointed to a male with messy brown hair on the tree stump. "That's Ruben. He ended up becoming Thunder's new leader after the previous leader didn't name a successor, but he's a selfish bastard. Only thinks about himself- he's causing Thunder so much trouble."

Matt eyed Thunder mercifully. He then changed the subject. "Who are the other two leaders, besides AJ, Ruben, and Dodger?"

"The blond male is the leader of Sol, his name is Alex, and the purple haired female is Tiffany, leader of Harmony." Austin replied. The chatter around them died down as the leaders raised their hands for silence.

"Thank you, everyone, for gathering with us today. Now, who wants to begin?" Tiffany asked, turning to the other leaders.

Dodger stepped forward. "I will. Greetings, GHOST, my name is Dodger and I've been named Max's successor for Opal. A few of you might already know that Max died from an infected basilisk bite. He died protecting his city and I hope I manage to lead Opal well and be a good leader."

A few heads bowed at the mention of Max's death, but it was then picked up as people chanted Dodger's name quietly and wished her luck. She seem embarrassed and stepped back. Matt watched as AJ then stepped forward.

AJ took a deep breath. "Light Keepers, a few days ago, for a week, us leaders met up to discuss something and we've decided to share this information with all of you. Some of you here, especially in Gate and Opal, may remember Nate, the Light Keeper that went missing five years ago. Well, we have found evidence which points to him still being alive." Matt noticed Austin's eyes widen next to him. "However, the evidence also points that he has gone under wendigo transformation."

Mutters broke out, confused and skeptical. AJ then raised his hand for silence. "To save the really long explanation, here's a shortened version of what's happened. He's a wendigo that still shows humanity within him, and us leaders believe that a Purity Flower might be able to heal him. So, we've all decided to work together to try and find a Purity Flower and heal Nate back to his human state."

Matt watched as all of the leaders, except Ruben, nodded in agreement on what AJ said. Ruben looked pretty bitter at the decision but didn't say anything to interrupt them.

However, he stepped forward once AJ stepped back. "Light Keepers, I leave all of you with a warning. One of the Light Keepers from Thunder has gone rogue."

More whispers broke out. Someone from the crowd in Sol then spoke up. "Who went rogue?"

Ruben grinned evilly. "Stampy Cat."

The whispers grew louder and Matt turned to Austin, who looked shocked. "Who's Stampy?"

Austin blinked slowly. "Stampy was a very loyal and great Light Keeper from Thunder. Quite the comedy relief also, but why would he go rogue?"

Matt cocked his head as Ruben continued. "He tried to take me down once I became leader, he's become quite the threat around here, and I'd advise you to keep an eye out for him."

Matt turned his head back to Austin, who was muttering. "Stampy would never be violent." He met his gaze with Matt's. "Matt, I know you've never met Stampy, but something about this doesn't feel right."

 

 

 

Nate frowned as he stared off into the distance, to where Gate lay. It was coming up to roughly one in the morning and Matt hadn't arrived yet. _He didn't appear last night either. Maybe he's sick._  Nate guessed. He noticed that Matt had gotten a cough over the past few days, but it didn't seem that serious. Nate sighed and looked up at the glowing moon. _I hope he's better soon if that's the case. I want to show him something._  Nate closed his eyes. He really loved Matt. The charming, adorable Light Keeper who was his childhood friend and crush as a human. Nate couldn't help but think about Matt- his fluffy hair, deep eyes, cute face. Nate jumped, startled, when someone leaped in front of him.

"Hello!" A female voice greeted.

Nate scrambled onto his feet. "Who the fuck are you?"

She eyed Nate curiously. "Yep. I think you're same one that Brett and Jonathan ran into." She mumbled to herself.

Nate squinted his eyes at her. The first thing he noticed about her was her scent; very human-like, but more smelling like blood. She had long black hair, brilliant blue eye, and freckles that decorated her face. "What can I do for you, ghoul?"

She smiled, showing no signs of fear or anger. "Geez, there's no need for the harsh tone, wendigo. We're on the same page here, you eat humans to survive, I eat humans to survive."

Nate kept his gaze stern. The ghoul kept her gaze warm and happy before adding. "You're Nate, right?"

"Yes, and I presume as you mentioned Jonathan and Brett that they told you about me?" Nate hissed.

She giggled lightly. "Again, no need for the harsh tone. I just came to talk."

"If it's about the uprising, I already told your friends, I'm not interested."

"It is a bit about that, but please just hear me out for a moment? Please?"

Nate rolled his eyes and huffed. "Fine. But at least tell me your name."

"Oh, right, my bad. I'm Jesse." She then hooked an arm around Nate's neck and cheerfully pulled him close. "Okay Nate, I understand that being part of an uprising is not everyone's cup of tea, but do you mind telling me why you don't want to?"

Nate biffed her away and turned to face her. "I'm just not interested. I've never been good in large groups. I've been on my own for a while now and I'm quite happy to stay like that."

Jesse blinked, still with a smile on her face. "Oh that was probably pretty tough, on your own through transformation. You didn't even try to find a wendigo pack to join?"

"No. I was fine with it just being me and Hunter." Nate grumbled.

"Hunter?"

Nate felt the rage inside of him turn to sorrow. "He was my friend. He taught me everything about being a wendigo, we became partners for five years until..." Nate looked down to the earth, grief ripping his chest open. "Light Keepers came one day. Hunter saved me but he didn't make it- he was killed." _Why am I telling her this?_

The brightness on Jesse's face faded. "Oh, I- that must of been tough to watched." She spoke sympathetically.

Nate found himself sitting down again, he hugged his knees tightly to his chest. Jesse sat next to him. "Not trying to be rude and I'm sorry for bringing this up again, but why not join the uprising? You could get revenge for what those Light Keepers did."

Nate pulled of his glasses and shoved them into his pocket. He put a hand to his forehead. "Even if I do get revenge, it won't bring him back. He's gone and I have to accept that."

Jesse tilted her head. "Okay then, don't live for revenge, but would you want to keep living yourself? I'm sure Hunter would be happy that you made it and that you're surviving?"

"I guess so."

Jesse then got up to her feet. "I heard from Brett that you're meeting up with a Light Keeper. If you hate them so much, then why meet up with one of them?

Somehow, Nate found himself telling the ghoul about Matt and about what he could remember about his human life. After he finished, Jesse seemed really interested. "I think that's pretty sweet." She commented.

"Now do you understand why I don't want to join the uprising? I don't want to it to end up with Matt getting hurt."

"We could always force Matt into some sort of transformation." Jesse suggested.

Nate eyed her viciously.

"Okay, maybe not then. It was just a suggestion, no need to give me a death stare." Jesse snorted.

"Sorry, I'm just pretty upset. I really don't know what to do." Nate apologised.

Jesse  held out her hand to him. "The leader of the uprising is holding a speech tomorrow. Why not come with me and listening to that and decide if the uprising may be good for you or not?"

Nate's gaze switched between Jesse and her extended hand. He wasn't sure if he should or not, his thoughts were all clouded over. Then Nate felt his eyes widen as an idea flew into his mind. _I could go to this speech, join the uprising, and learn useful information- which may help out Matt and the rest of the Light Keepers! Would I be able to do that though?_  Nate hesitated before grabbing Jesse's hand. "Alright. I'll come."

Jesse helped pull him to his feet. "Great! Follow me, I'll take you to where we're setting up our base.

Nate nodded and Jesse took the lead. Before Nate followed her, something caught his attention. His eyes locked onto a human who was watching them from behind the trees. He wore a yellow hoodie, which looked like it had cat ears on the hood, and they had curly brown hair. Nate felt the human's eyes meet his. He watched as the human pressed something in his hand and astonishment filled Nate as he disappeared. _A button that either made him teleport or made him invisible?_  He slowly tore his eyes away from the spot where the human stood, before following Jesse. 


	27. Stampy Cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)
> 
> Also yes, some stuff in this was inspired by the Warrior cats books by Erin Hunter, I've read a ton of them and I'm a fan of them.

Nate found himself following Jesse towards a Normal town. Nate froze at the edge of the forest and Jesse looked back at him with confusion. "What's wrong? Our base is only a bit away." She tilted her head.

"I can be seen and heard by Normals." Nate told her.

Jesse bit her lip. "Well, it's night, so most of the Normals are probably asleep and won't see you. Besides, our base is just a few blocks away."

Nate sighed. "I guess you're right." He muttered before he continued to follow the ghoul into the town. The scent of the humans in the town flew around him and slowly the scent of multiple different monsters appeared in the air around him. They approached a mansion in the middle of the town. Dangerous and Cannibalistic Monsters were entering it. Jesse beckoned Nate to follow her inside. The inside was huge and packed with many other monsters. Demons, vampires, werewolves, ghouls, ghosts, fallen angels, hellhounds, witches, and a few other monsters that Nate had never seen before. He smelled a familiar scent and saw Brett and Jonathan. However, the two were both in their humans forms. Both of them had short hair and a beard, Brett's hair being black and Jonathan's being brown. All the monsters around him were talking in human, which was pretty common language for monsters. Only the hellhounds couldn't understand the human language. Jesse indicated Nate to stand next to her. Nate hesitated before walking up to her.

"My sister, Cassie, is actually running the speech." Jesse whispered to him. Nate eyed the ghoul before the room fell silent as a female ghoul walked into the room. She looked very similar to Jesse, except her hair was shorter and cut into an undercut and her eyes were an odd amber colour. She made her way through the crowd and stood at the front of the room, looking over everyone. Nate felt a shiver run through him as he felt her raw gaze lock with his for a second. She coughed lightly before announcing.

"Greetings, all monsters that have gathered here today!" Cassie started. "I know that we've all had trouble with those Light Keepers since they decided to step up and fight back. They've built five main cities, which are posing a large threat to our existence. Now, I know us monsters don't normally like mingling with other species, but I believe this is the only way we can beat the Light Keepers once and for all, and become the top feared predators again!"

A few mutters ran out, some of agreement and some of uncertainty. "So tell us. When the GHOST cities were first founded, there was a fight like this, Light Keepers versus monsters, and we lost. How is it that we'll win this time?" One questioned.

"Because when GHOST was first created, we didn't know what to expect. We had no idea what they had learned about us and how they would kill us, but now we have an advantage. The weaknesses of one monster are another's strength. For example..." Cassie moved her gaze to Nate. "A wendigo is very weak to fire. One small flame could end up making one burst into fire. However, demons and hellhounds don't get harmed from fire. Demons and hellhounds do get very badly injured by holy water, but holy water doesn't effect a wendigo at all. So, if we pair up monsters that have good synergy with each other, like a wendigo and demon, it would be difficult for the Light Keepers to find something that will affect both of them."

All the whispers turned into mutters of agreement and Nate was pretty impressed with the ghoul's thought process. He gave an approving nod to show Cassie that she had a strong idea there.

"There's still two problems." Nate heard Jonathan speak up. "What about Sol's cursed weapons and Thunder's well planned out traps? How are we going to find a way to counter those?"

"I'll admit that Sol's curse weapons will be a large threat, but from what I've observed, Sol's Light Keepers mainly focus on attacking. Their defences aren't that great, so all you need to do is catch one off guard and you should be fine." Cassie paused for a heartbeat. "As for Thunder and their traps, just keep a close eye out, there's not really much we can do to avoid them. Anyways, I'll give you all time to think about what I said. If you want to join, come by this place every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at midnight and we'll start learning to train together."

Cheers and satisfied mumbles echoed through the mansion. Nate gave an agreeable 'uh huh' sound before his gaze focused on a window to the side of Cassie and his eyes widened as he worked out the faint outline of a human standing there, looking in carefully and spying on them. Nate swallowed when he recognised it to be the same person he saw in the forest; yellow hoodie with cat ears on the hood and brown curly hair. The human turned his head and Nate watched his eyes widened as his gaze met with Nate's. Fear filled the human's face. _He's a Light Keeper._

"Light Keeper!" Brett yelled Nate's thoughts aloud. "By the window!"

Nate watched as the Light Keeper at the window scrambled away.

"Then go get him!" Cassie snapped at the werewolf.

Brett went to leave the house and Nate quickly turned to him. "I'll come with you." Nate offered.

Brett eyed him, but didn't question him further as they rushed out of the house to find where the human had ran off to. He caught a glimpse of yellow in the trees. "This way!" Nate ran over to were he saw the golden flash, he heard Brett right behind him. Nate hastily caught up with the human and pounced. He grabbed the Light Keeper's shoulders and wrestled him onto the earth, rolling down a nearby hill. When they landed, Nate pinned the human down against the earth aggressively, and stared into his fearful eyes. He was a Light Keeper, yet when Nate examined him, he realised that he had nothing on him to defend himself; no weapons, charms, or anything else along those lines. He also seemed really skinny and unhealthy. _He's no threat to us. Besides, his scent suggests he's been alone for quite a while. He hasn't been around any other beings for months, it smells like._

"Nate! Did you catch him?"

Nate's head snapped around at Brett's voice. He heard the Light Keeper gulp with fear. Nate turned to him and blinked sympathetically. "Stay down and keep still." Nate whispered in the humans ear. "Don't make a sound." The human gave him a confused look as Nate got up and looked over to were Brett's voice came from. "Doesn't look like he went this way." Nate called back to the werewolf. "I'll continue to scout the area before I head back to my territory. I'll come by if I find him."

"Fine." Brett replied gruffly. "You'll be coming to the training sessions though, right?"

"Of course." Nate answered the werewolf and he heard footsteps fade away as Brett walked off.

"You- you're part of an uprising. You're a wendigo, you're- you're going to kill me, _eat_ me." The human faltered.

Nate raised an eyebrow. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so by now. Also, between you and me, I'm only joining the uprising to learn what shit they're planning so I can report it to my friend in Gate." Nate offered his hand to the human, who hesitated before taking it, and Nate helped him to his feet. The Light Keeper gazed at him gratefully. "Why did you save me? You're a googlie, you hate us."

Nate broke eye contact. "Not all Light Keepers are bad and I don't kill for sport, just for food. Besides, I used to be one myself before I committed cannibalism."

The human eyed him with interest. "Thank you, thanks, for saving me that is."

"Not trying to pry, but why are you completely unequipped?" Nate asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's probably not the smartest thing for a Light Keeper to be."

The human looked down at the ground. "I had all of my gear taken away."

"Taken away?" Nate echoed.

The human nodded. "My name's Stampy, Stampy Cat. You see, I was from Thunder, but then some stuff happened, our leader died without naming a successor, I helped out the Light Keepers in Thunder who were suffering greatly... And then I got driven out by Ruben for some reason." He explained.

Nate cocked his head. "Driven out? You were exiled out of your own home for a reason that wasn't explained?"

Stampy nodded. "Yep. No idea why. Ruben just forced me out and he's also told the other Light Keepers to kill me if they see me and I don't understand it! I don't know why I'm being hunted, why I was chased out- it's been really difficult, since Thunder is miles away from any Normal places so I've been wandering through the woods for weeks, maybe months. I then saw this girl walking through the forest and I figured that I would ask for directions, but she walked off before I could say anything- I followed her and came across you two talking."

"Well, that girl you almost ended up talking to is a ghoul named Jesse."

"A ghoul? Well, I'm glad I didn't end up talking to her, I would have been eaten for sure."

"If you don't want to get eaten, then why did you follow us here, where a shitload of Dangerous and Cannibalistic Monsters are meeting up?"

Stampy opened his mouth to respond, but shut it and responded with a shrug. Nate eyed him blankly for a minute before Stampy spoke again. "Hey, can I ask you for a favour- uh, sorry I didn't catch your name."

"Nate." 

"Nate, can I ask you for your help?"

Nate snorted. "Me saving your ass two minutes ago wasn't enough?"

"No? Yes? I don't know- but I'm very grateful for you doing so." Stampy stuttered over his words. "It's just, do you know where any of the other Light Keeper cities are? I really need to go to one of them and let them know how bad things have gotten in Thunder lately, and I've got some bad injures that might have gotten infected and I need to get them treated."

"Well, I know Gate's about a half hour walk from here, and I'm not the best, but I know the basics about healing herbs and shit if you want me to check your injuries." Nate offered.

Stampy looked thoughtfully at the sky before pulling the hood from his head and turning around to reveal a tainted, toxic looking scar on the back of his neck. Nate looked at it in surprise. He wasn't sure if it was from a monster or weapon of some sort.

"I have one like that on my leg also." Stampy commented.

Nate examined the wound on the Light Keeper's neck. "What did this to you?"

"I ran into one of the traps that are hidden around Thunder while I was being driven out."

Nate grumbled. "It looks infected, pretty badly as well. Follow me back to where I have marked my territory. I have quite a lot of flowers around there that might help. Also, it's right outside of Gate."

Stampy pulled his hood back over his head and smiled with relief. "Really? Thank you so much."

Nate gestured the Light Keeper to follow and it wasn't until now that Nate noticed Stampy's serious limp. _The wound on his leg must be pretty bad._  Nate thought. They walked through the forest, the day crawling by, sunset slowly taking over. It took a while and a few stops, as Stampy's leg was weighing him down slightly, but they eventually arrived back to Nate's territory. Stampy eyed the trees and the fragile leaves curiously. "This is nice, but why is a googlie like you camping right by one of the main Light Keeper cities?"

Nate frowned. "Googlie?"

"Oh, it's a stupid nickname me and my friends came up with for monsters and I kind of use it all the time now." Stampy explained, smiling lightly.

"Alright then." Nate muttered. He spoke up when answering Stampy's question. "I've made my territory next to Gate because there's a Light Keeper there who I meet up with every night. Now sit down and I'll see if I can find anything for your wounds."

Stampy obeyed and sat down on the grass, resting his back against a tree. Nate had a quick look around, but he couldn't find much that he recalled to help a wound that looked as infected and deadly as the two Stampy had. After helpless searching, Nate grabbed some nearby dock leaves and headed back to Stampy, who was eyeing everything around him shakily. He almost seemed to jump a foot in the air when Nate spoke. "Are you okay, Stampy? You seem pretty nervous, not comfortable or something?" Nate asked.

"Nervous? No, not at all, not nervous in the slightest. I'm comfortable, so comfortable that I could probably fall asleep right here right now, honest." Stampy responded quickly.

Nate snorted. "If you're worried that I might eat you, don't be."

"Well now you've just given me reason to be nervous." Stampy grumbled.

Nate placed the dock leaves over the back of Stampy's neck and on his leg. "I'm afraid I can't find anything which will help the infection, but these should sooth the pain. Rest up for about a day then I'll take you to Gate."

Stampy nodded in response and shut his eyes to sleep. Nate leaned himself against a tree and listened to the environment around him. Suddenly, his eyes snapped to the sky as he watched the clouds form together. The clouds created a thunderbolt shape, which looked like it was raging. Then, next to it, another cloud changed its shape into what looked like a cat, which looked as if it had patterns over it- stamp-like patterns. Nate tilted his head to one side in thought as he continued to watch. The thunderbolt cloud was enraged, but as the cat cloud approached it, it became less violent and calmed down. Nate blinked and the scene was gone, the clouds back to their original positions. Nate felt both excited and nervous. _Did I just witness a sign? A prophecy?_  Nate thought deeply about what he saw, trying to figure out what it meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates/new chapters won't happen for a week now since I will be on holiday and they'll start becoming every 2 daysish.


	28. Poison

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Nate opened his eyes when he felt a tapping on his shoulder. He was lying on the grass, the moonlight glowing above him. He quickly sat upright and turned his head to see Stampy standing above him. "Sorry! Sorry for waking you." 

Nate grumbled. "Well, at least you apologised." He yawned. He had fallen asleep right after seeing that odd scene in the sky. He got up onto his feet, closed his eyes, and stretched his arms. "How are you feeling?" 

Stampy bit his lip nervously and Nate raised an eyebrow. Stampy removed his hood from his head and turned the back of his neck towards Nate. Nate's eyes widened. The dock leaves had fallen off and the wound looked much worse. The scar had turned an weird mixture of purple and red and it looked badly infected. 

Nate blinked with surprise. "That happened overnight?" 

"Well, it was caused by a poisonous blade trap, and the poison we used for it came from a manticore's stinger, so-" 

"You're only just telling me this now?" 

"Well, we just met last night and when I woke up you had fallen asleep, so I didn't want to disturb you." 

"Manticore poison is fucking serious and life threatening! No wonder you're really weak, skinny, and pale... How long have you had these injuries?" 

"Uh, well, about two weeks- but I'm fine, honestly!" 

"You may seem fine. Manticore poison does take a while to take effect, but once it does, it _will_  kill you, and quickly." 

Stampy put his hands up in a surrendering position. "Calm down, I'm fine, really, honestly." 

"You won't be once the poison starts melting through you from the inside out!" Stampy looked horrified. Nate grabbed his wrist. "I'm taking you to Gate right now, so they can treat you." 

Stampy snatched his arm away from Nate's grasp, moved a few footsteps away and looked down to the ground. "Maybe it's best if I just stay here, I- I deserve to die." 

Nate blinked rapidly at what Stampy said. "No one  _deserves_  to die." 

Stampy either didn't hear him or ignored him. "You're a googlie- a wendigo, right? Kill me, eat me, please." 

"Um, no. I don't take requests, and if I eat you, I'll end up getting food poisoning." Nate snorted. 

"Then just kill me, please. I don't deserve to get these wounds healed. There are others who deserve to be healed more than me- especially after what I did..." Stampy trailed off at the end. 

Nate's interests perked up. "What did you do?" 

Stampy looked shakily around the forest before looking down again. "I... I did something terrible. I was out with my squad, helping other Light Keepers, who were suffering greatly after Ruben took over, then-" 

"Nate?" 

Nate looked behind him to see Matt emerge from the trees. Matt looked over at Nate, then over at Stampy. "Hello?" 

"Oh, um, h-hello." Stampy stuttered. 

"Nate, who is this?" Matt asked. 

"Matt, this is Stampy. Stampy, this is Matt." 

"Stampy?" Matt repeated, blinking a few times. "Stampy Cat?" 

"Uh, y-yeah. That's me." Stampy confirmed, moving his gaze to the ground. "How do you know about me?" 

"The leader of Thunder, Ruben, told us at the GHOST Gathering that you went rogue." Matt answered. 

Stampy's head snapped up, his eyes wide. "What? No! Th-that's not true!" 

Nate narrowed his eyes in confusion. "You went rogue? But you told me you were driven out." 

"I was! I was exiled! I never went rogue, that's a lie!" Stampy sputtered. 

Nate moved his head to meet Matt's uneasy gaze. 

"I swear! I didn't go rogue, that's crazy, you've got to believe me!" Stampy begged. 

Nate turned his gaze to the Light Keeper. "We never said that you were lying." 

Stampy breathed with relief. "Thank you." 

Matt eyed Stampy with curiosity. "Any idea why Ruben would say you went rogue?" 

Stampy kicked his foot against the floor. "Not really..." 

Nate cocked his head to one side. "You were about to tell me something before Matt came along, any idea if it was to do with that?" 

Stampy held his hands into his chest and closed his eyes, staying silent. 

Nate folded his arms and looked at Matt. "Sorry, you probably weren't expecting this. Long story short, I couldn't let Stampy get killed by a werewolf, so I saved him and brought him back here." Nate decided to keep quiet about the uprising for now. He would tell Matt about it once he had enough information. 

Matt shrugged. "It's fine." 

"Do you think you could bring Stampy back to Gate with you? He had a serious injury on the back of his neck and on his leg and I have nothing here that can heal them." 

Matt bit his lip. "I guess I could. but they will be some outburst if I do. There seems to be very mixed opinions about Light Keepers that go rogue." 

"Well, surely they'll help a Light Keeper who is slowly dying of poison?" 

"I guess so." Matt nodded. "Sure. Stampy, come back to Gate with me and I'll take you to the hospital building." 

Stampy looked away from Nate and Matt and stared beyond the forest with a guilty expression. "I can't." He turned to face Matt and Nate again, tears pricking the edge of his vision. "I can't! I need to go back to Thunder! I need to find my squad! Dan, Jordan, Lizzie and Stacy; my squad... I abandoned them." 

Nate felt a small knot form in his stomach.  _He abandoned his squad?_

Matt took a step closer to Stampy. "Hey, I'm sure you didn't mean to." 

Stampy opened his mouth to reply, but instead of words, he ended up giving a raspy cough and started to spit up blood and collapsed onto the ground, too weak to sit himself up.  

"Shit! The manticore poison must be taking effect." Nate rushed over to Stampy and held him up. 

"Manticore poison?" Matt repeated. 

Nate turned to Matt. "Matt, go to get and drag a medic from Gate over here. We won't be able to move him without the poison taking extreme effect." 

"Actually, I don't think you'll need to drag a medic over here." A new, but kind of familiar voice spoke. Nate and Matt snapped their heads up to see a skinny, male Light Keeper with messy brown hair looking at them, a transparent ferret sitting on his shoulders.


	29. Caught

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Matt blinked at the Light Keeper. "Austin?" 

Austin eyed Matt, Nate, and Stampy individually before turning to his familiar. "Pixel, go back and drag a handful of medics over here." The ferret gave a squeak in response before jumping off of Austin's shoulder and heading back towards Gate. 

Matt looked at him with surprise. "What are you doing out here?" 

"I could ask you the same question, Matt." Austin retorted and Matt went quiet, realising that the four star Light Keeper had a point. 

Nate eyed Austin dangerously, who put his hands up in surrender. "I'm not going to hurt you, don't worry." 

Nate still looked at him uncertainly, but his attention went back to Stampy as he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Nate held him upright so that the blood didn't fall back down his throat and choke him. Austin rushed over to Stampy's side. "What happened to him?" 

"Manticore poison." Nate replied gruffly. 

Stampy put his hand to his own throat before looking over at Austin and smiling lightly. "Good to... see you... again." He whispered in pain. 

Austin took Stampy from Nate's hands. "You'll be fine. Just try and hang on, okay?" 

Stampy opened his mouth to respond, but he shut it slowly when he had nothing to say. Pixel then came running back and rushed onto Austin's shoulders. Hearing footsteps of other Light Keepers, Matt watched as Nate scrambled to his feet and hastily ran out of sight.  

"Nate!" Matt called after him, but Nate didn't come out from his where he was hiding. He turned back around to see Amanda and a few other medics that Matt didn't recognise come into view. They looked down at Stampy, taking a moment to analyse the station before moving forward to take Stampy out of Austin's hands and lay him on the ground gently. The slight movement caused Stampy to sputter slightly, crimson blood dripping out of his mouth and staining his lips. The medics began to mutter softly among each other, coming up with the best solution for the situation in front of them. Austin moved and stood next to Matt, arms folded as he watched what was happening. Matt gazed at Austin for a moment, before moving his eyes back to Stampy. 

"Matt." Austin spoke sternly, his eyes still on Stampy. 

Matt swallowed. "Yes?" 

Austin then turned his head slowly to meet Matt's brown gaze with his own. "What are you doing? Sneaking out every night to meet up with a wendigo?" 

"How did you manage to follow me without me, or Nate, noticing?" 

"Pixel's ability makes me able to sneak around easily without being noticed or scented, now answer my question please." 

Matt broke the eye contact. "He's my friend." Matt whispered a simple reply before meeting Austin's eyes again. "Austin, that's Nate. The Light Keeper that went missing, remember?" 

"I know who he is, Matt. But he's not human anymore." 

"He's half human." 

"That's not the point. Matt, I understand that you're friends, but you can't keep meeting him like this. Sure, he's technically a half human, half wendigo because of his familiar halting the transformation, but he's still dangerous. He'll still go mad over hunger if he doesn't eat in a couple of days. Fresh blood will most likely trigger him to snap, and the way that he is makes him carry diseases that are threatening to humans, such as corruption cough. Matt, Nate is a corrupted being." 

"Nate is not _corrupted_."  

Austin sighed, giving Matt a pitiful look. "I'm sorry, but that's the truth. He doesn't really fit into either side of the hidden world... He doesn't fit in the human half and he doesn't fit in the monster half. Sure, the little bit of humanity that he has in him seems to be the main part of him in control, but he still has his monster side. He probably has two different mindsets of each situation, his human one being more in control but if he snaps, his wendigo side will most likely become the dominant one." He paused for a moment. "Look, I know you want to find a Purity Flower to see if it will help Nate- I do too, but for the moment, we can't have you, or anyone, hang around him because of the high chance of catching corruption cough and for the fact that he's half Cannibalistic Monster, which are slowly killing humanity. So Matt, until we get a Purity Flower to purify him with, you need to stop meeting up with Nate." 

Matt opened his mouth to retaliate but no words came out to challenge Austin. Matt closed it slowly. 

"Austin, Matt." Amanda called over to them. "Head back to Gate and tell AJ about Stampy. It's his choice whether he wants us to bring him back into Gate to give him proper treatment or not." 

Austin gave a tiny nod. He turned to walk back to Gate. Matt looked into the forest, seeing if he could spot Nate. After a quick scan, Matt didn't see the half wendigo and turned to follow Austin. Matt watched as the older Light Keeper moved his vision to the ground as they walked. "I hope AJ lets Stampy stay until he's healed." 

Matt tilted his head in interest. "You seem to know Stampy pretty well." He commented. 

"Well, yeah. He's my cousin." Austin shrugged. 

Matt blinked with a small amount of surprise. "I guess that would make sense." 

Austin nodded. "That's why I'm also having such a hard time believing he went rouge. He's a part of my family and I could never see him turning away from his Light Keeper duties, he's very loyal." 

"Why is there such a mixed opinion on rogues anyway?" 

"Some Light Keepers think it's disgraceful to turn away from such a huge destiny. Light Keepers do a huge service, keeping humanity safe and fighting off monsters, and some people think turning away the gift to be able to save the world is just shameful. Others understand that not every Light Keeper wants to fight and put their lives on the line and would rather just have a happy family or do other Normal stuff without dealing with monsters." Austin explained. 

"Both arguments make sense." Matt remarked. "But I agree more with the second part. If a Light Keeper doesn't want to fight, that's completely fine. It's their life after all." 

"My thoughts exactly, but most Light Keepers have the 'becoming a rogue is shameful' mindset. I just hope AJ at least let's Stampy get treatment here instead of just sending him away to die." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After that bit of talk between Matt and Austin, what are your guys's thoughts on rogue Light Keepers? Do you think it's shameful to throw away the ability to see supernatural creatures or do you think it's fine for a Light Keeper to go rogue and say they don't want to fight for humanity?


	30. Still Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to FutureWatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)
> 
> Also little note, might want to start paying attention to some 'minor details'. I might start to sprinkle in some things with may foreshadow later events and cause I feel like it.

Nate watched as the medics attempted reassure and treat Stampy with what was around them. When he heard the Light Keeper's footsteps, he rushed out of sight into a hyssop bush, the pollen of the flowers falling on his skin and clothing. Nate looked up at the sky, the moon barely visible through the clouded night, but he worked out that it was roughly midnight. _I should head to the mansion then._  Nate decided. He stalked out of the hyssop bush, silently shaking away the pollen that had fallen on his head, before walking back towards the meeting area for the uprising. He padded along for about twenty minutes, his bare feet crushing sticks and leaves as he walked. He felt his foot connect with a bigger, wood-feeling object. Moving his foot off of the piece of wood, Nate looked down at it. The small wooden plank look quite old, and it seemed badly seared. Nate kicked it over with his foot- and froze. Very faint and hard to make out, on the wooden piece, the name 'Hunter' was engraved. Nate blinked at it, his eyes widening. _Am I really that close to home?_  Nate looked up, in the direction he guessed the burnt wood piece came from, and gazed around. He took a few footsteps through the forest and found that the ground started to go uphill. Nate rushed up the hill and at the top, his eyes fell on the remains of the shed that he and Hunter had lived in.

Nate felt his eyebrows droop and slowly walked up to the damaged remains of the shed. It didn't even look like a shed anymore- it was just a pile of scorched wooden planks with statice flowers growing around it. Nate felt himself slip into the good and bad memories; hunting, going on walks, enhancing their fighting skills, Hunter's death. Nate closed his eyes tightly, forcing any tears back down. He could feel the wendigo in him growling, wanting to get revenge on the Light Keeper that had killed his best friend. But Nate forced his monster side to calm down, taking deep breaths and beginning to sing gently.

"Musing through memories, losing my grip in the grey. Numbing the senses, I feel you slipping away. Fighting to hold on, clinging to just one more day. Love turns to ashes, with all that I wish I could say. I'd die to be where you are. I tried to be where you are. Every night, I dream you're still here. The ghost by my side, so perfectly clear. When I awake, you'll disappear back to the shadows with all I hold dear. With all I hold dear. I dream you're still here. I dream you're still here. Hidden companion phantom, be still in my heart. Make me a promise that time won't erase us, that we were not lost from the start. I'd die to be where you are. I tried to be where you are. Every night, I dream you're still here. The ghost by my side, so perfectly clear. When I awake, you'll disappear, back to the shadows with all I hold dear. With all I hold dear. I dream you're still here. I dream you're still here. Ever slightly out of reach. I dream you're still here, but it breaks so easily. I try to protect you, I can't let you fade. I feel you slipping, I feel you slipping away." Nate paused for a second, before singing again. "Every night, I dream you're still here. The ghost by my side, so perfectly clear. When I awake, you'll disappear, back to the shadows with all I hold dear. With all I hold dear. I dream you're still here. I dream you're still here. I dream you're still here; ever slightly out of reach. I dream you're still here; but it breaks so easily." When he finished, he opened his eyes to look at his wrecked home one last time, before turning back around to head towards the mansion.

Nate arrived at the entrance of the mansion and carefully made his way towards the door, trying not to catch the attention of any possibly awake Normals. He creaked the door open, walked in, and shut it behind him. A good few other monsters were already inside, mainly gathered at an island bar in the corner of the kitchen. He walked over it it, seeing Jesse sitting at one of the chairs. He approached and sat on the chair next to her, watching her swig from a bottle of blood before the ghoul turned to him.

"Oh, hi Nate!" Jesse greeted, in a drunk voice.

Nate raised an eyebrow. "So we're training to fight back against Light Keepers, and you think it's a good idea to become drunk?"

"Phhfffff. I'm not drunk! I've only had, like, two bottles and a half of blood."

"That's is more than enough blood at once to get wasted."

"No it's nooooooot." She went to take another mouthful from the bottle, but before it could meet her lips, a hand came and swiped the bottle of blood out of her hands. Nate looked up to see that Cassie had snatched it away from her. "Drunk already, sis?" Cassie grumbled in an emotionless tone.

"No! Give that back! My drink!" Jesse demanded.

Cassie rolled her eyes. "We need to save some beverages for the other monsters. Besides, if you have a drop more, you're going to be sick." Jesse just grunted. Cassie sighed and turned to Nate and held up the bottle. "Do you want some?" She offered

Nate felt his mouth water slightly, just now realising that he hadn't actually eaten anything for almost the past two days, and he could do with some blood. "Just a small glass."

"Can I have some?" Jesse pleaded.

"No." Cassie said simply, keeping her voice as blank as she could. She went behind the island bar and grabbed a small glass, filled it with blood, and handed it to Nate. "Thanks." Nate muttered before taking a small sip.

Jesse groaned. "Fine. I'll go and see if everyone's here then." She grumbled before jumping off her seat and stumbling away. Nate looked up at Cassie. "Is she always like that?"

Cassie nodded. "Afraid so. Do you mind me asking, how can you speak and understand other languages? I mean, a wendigo is the only monster that can't speak or understand human so... how come you can?"

Nate cocked his head to one side. "If I'm completely honest, I'm not sure."

Cassie looked at him and Nate found himself meeting her orange gaze. He felt his wendigo side look over her curiously. Nate shook it away and took another sip of blood. Cassie blinked slowly at him before she placed the bottle down on the side. "There's no rush. I haven't seen Jonathan, Andrew, or Phil arrive yet, so we're still waiting on them.

"What gave you the idea to form an uprising in the first place?" Nate asked.

"Well, I hate Light Keepers. Other Dangerous and Cannibalistic Monsters hate them- even some Neutral Monsters don't like them. We were here first. We were the top predators, yet some humans just had to evolve with the ability to see us and learned how to fight back. It's just stupid of them. They can't get over the fact that they aren't the highest thing on the food chain and fight back because of it. Me and many other monsters just want to put them back into their place, living in fear of us and becoming meek prey again. Sure, we've wiped out a few percent of humanity, but they've killed a ton more monsters than we have humans." Cassie explained.

"I guess that's a reasonable argument."

Cassie opened her mouth to speak but Jesse came back into view and interrupted whatever she was about to say. "Cassie? Jonathan, Andrew, and Phil have now arrived." She announced, still sounding pretty drunk.

"Alright. Why don't you just go upstairs and get some rest? I'm worried you're going to vomit on someone." Cassie remarked.

Jesse snorted, but did as she was told and dragged herself upstairs. Cassie turned to Nate. "Well, come over once you finish your drink and we can start training then."

Nate nodded and watched as Cassie strolled away. He took another swallow, this time savouring the taste. Nate finished his glass and gazed at the ceiling. _There's something about that ghoul. I'm not sure what, but there's something about her that intrigues me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Nate sung is 'Still Here' by Digital Daggers.


	31. Plead for help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Austin knocked on the door the AJ's room, Matt behind him. A few seconds passed before Morgan's gentle voice reached their ears. "Come in." Austin pushed the door open and Matt followed him inside the room. Morgan was fluttering around, holding a small book in her hands, but AJ wasn't in sight. Morgan blinked at them. "Austin, Matt. What can I do for you?"

"Where's AJ?" Matt questioned.

"Alex, the leader of Sol, asked to talk to him in private a few hours ago." Morgan responded. "But he should be back soon-"

"Austin, Matt?" AJ's voice rung behind them and the two Light Keepers to look at the leader of Gate.

"Speak of the devil." Morgan muttered. "Well I'm going to my room for the night. It seems like Austin and Matt have something to talk to you about." She said before flying out of the room.

AJ walked over to his desk and sat down, before looking up at them. "What is it?"

Matt and Austin gave each other a soft look, before turning their gazes back to their leader and Austin spoke. "Sir, it's Stampy. We've found him just outside Gate, and he's dying from manticore poison."

Matt continued for him. "We've called some medics over to take care of him outside the city but they told us that the only way they can full treat him is to bring him back to the hospital building, and it's your choice if you want to bring him in."

AJ squinted his eyes. "First of all, tell me, why were both of you outside in the forest at midnight?"

Matt swallowed. "Well, I-"

"Matt told me he was finding familiar training quite difficult and ask me if I could clear a few things up. I decide that we could walk around the edge of Gate and talk for the night; we then heard coughing in the forest, ran in, and found Stampy." Austin lied.

Matt blinked at him gratefully.  _He didn't tell AJ that I was with Nate._

AJ didn't look complete convinced, but he didn't question the story. "Alright then. So now you're waiting for my permission so that Stampy can be brought here for treatment?"

Both Austin and Matt nodded. AJ sighed. "Austin, you know how I feel about rogues."

"But Stampy's my cousin!" Austin begged. "I've known him my entire life and I know he would never turn his back on his city. I understand that you're not very fond of rogues, but at least let him get proper treatment for his injures then send him away again instead of letting him die." Austin's voice became a lot more shaken up. "Please; I've already watched the rest of my family perish, he's all I have left- I don't want to loose him too."

Matt felt sympathy for the older Light Keeper. He looked over to AJ who was deep in thought, eyes closed. AJ then gave an hesitant sigh before opeing them. "Very well. Stampy can come back for treatment and can stay until he fully recovers." Austin and Matt's face brightened up. "Also, depending on Stampy's side of the story, he can stay in Gate."

Austin smiled and sighed with relief. "Thank you."

AJ just nodded. "Austin, you go and help the medics bring Stampy into the hospital building and Matt, you should get some rest."

"Yes sir." Austin lowered his head before leaving the room, Matt's gaze followed him for a moment and he fell in thought. _He really cares about his cousin. I wonder if I-_

"Matt." AJ's voice snapped him out of thought. "Go back to your room and get some sleep."

Matt looked over at his leader. "Sir, did I have any cousins or siblings?"

AJ blinked slowly. "The amulet I gave you hasn't freed your memories yet?"

Matt shook his head. AJ closed his eyes in thought. "Well, they will unlock soon, hopefully. He opened his eyes and met his gaze with Matt. "I don't want to tell you everything about yourself, Matt. I feel like you deserve to find out some things on your own."

Matt looked down. "I understand."

"But if you're that desperate to know and the amulet doesn't release your memories soon, let me know and I can tell you." AJ offered.

Matt shook his head. "It's fine, I'll wait."

AJ nodded his head. "Very well, now go and rest."

Matt gave him a nod in reply before leaving the room and he walked out of the building started to walk over to the tube train station, listening to the own echo of his footsteps as he walked. He then heard a second pair of footsteps. Matt looked around, the clear moonlight of the night making it fairly easy to see.

"Excuse me?"

Matt whipped around and watched as a person materialised behind him. He had dark, cyan blue hair, ice blue eyes; wearing blue lens goggles, and his shirt and leggings were also a shade of blue. The only thing he was wearing which wasn't a cobalt colour was his jacket, which was a raven black colour. Matt eyed him up and down, noticing how skinny and unhealthy he looked and yellow zig zags over the jacket's shoulders and back. "Thunderbolts. You're from Thunder?"

"Yes, I am." He confirmed. "I heard that you've found Stampy dying from manticore poison."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "How did you hear that conversation?"

The Light Keeper pulled out a tiny device out of his ear. "This helps me listen to conversation which are just out of hearing range."

"One of the devices you make in Thunder?"

"Yep. Anyway, is Stampy okay?"

Matt swallowed. _Should I tell him? Doesn't everyone in Thunder believe Stampy went rogue?_

The cyan haired male seemed to sense his hesitation and quickly spoke. "Oh, don't worry! I'm on Stampy's side. My name's Dan, Dan Middleton. I'm one of the members of his squad. All of us - Lizzie, Jordan, Stacy and I - are trying to prove Stampy's innocence and bring him back to Thunder."

Matt blinked. "So he didn't go rogue?" 

"Of course not! Ruben drove him out for some bizarre reason that no one really knows." Dan remarked. He then took a deep breath and looked pleadingly into Matt's eyes. "Please, Thunder is falling apart; we need your help."


	32. Red like Roses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Matt blinked. "Help?" 

Dan nodded. "Lizzie tried to ask Harmony for help a few days ago, but they turned us down. Sol won't help us no matter what we do, so that leaves you guys and Opal; so I've come to ask you and Jordan has gone to ask Opal for help." Dan's eyes filled with distress and worry. "Please, I need to speak to your leader." 

Matt eyed Dan sympathetically. "Alright, AJ is just in this building. Do you want me to walk you to him?" 

Dan shook his head. "Appreciate the offer but I think I'll be fine. Also," He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a envelope, handing it to Matt. "this has all of Stampy's weapon key chain, technology and equipment in it, can you give it to him for me?" 

Matt took the envelope out of Dan's frail hand. "Sure." He promised. 

Dan smiled gratefully. "Thank you." He began to walk towards the main building. Matt's gaze followed him, before he headed to the tube train so he could go to the dormitories. 

  

  

  

Nate dodged out of the way of Andrew's attack and hastily aimed a kick at the vampire's head. Andrew ducked and bared his fangs, before jumping up at Nate. Nate blocked his attack with his arms then quickly grabbed Andrew by the shirt and flipped him over onto his back and placed a foot lightly over his throat. Andrew choked, then tapped the floor with his hand. 

"Stop the fight." Cassie ordered. "Nate wins." 

Nate removed his foot from Andrew's throat and he jumped up to his feet. Andrew grinned at Nate. "Not bad." 

Nate smiled back. "You were pretty good yourself." They moved away and stood with the rest of the crowd of monsters. Nate leaned himself against the island bar while Andrew sat himself on it. Nate watched as Cassie called forward Jonathan and a demon, that Nate hadn't caught the name of, to fight. Andrew cocked his head to one side, then leaned down to whisper in Nate's ear. "Why is she getting us to fight one another? I thought it was for training, but she seems to be analysing our fighting style." 

Nate shrugged. "Maybe it's so she has a better understand of all of our fighting styles. I mean, a werewolf's fighting style would be a lot different from a demon's, right?" 

"True. I guess that would make sense." Andrew commented. 

Nate turned his head to face the fight that was about to be initiated between the werewolf and demon. Jonathan shifted into his wolf form and leaped at the demon, who successfully blocked the werewolf's attack and countered it with his own attacks. Nate watched as the fight continued to play out in front of him, watching attacks hit, attacks miss, blocks. He adjusted his glasses and blinked- and when he opened them, he was no longer inside the mansion with the rest of the monsters. Instead, he was in a lavish, overgrown field, an abundant amount flowers sprouting around him. The field spread out for what seemed like miles, no trees in sight. No clouds seemed to be in the lilac sky and the sun was blazing, burning Nate's skin slightly.  _What's this? Another vision?_  Nate scanned all the growing flowers,  realising  that all of them were  roses, red   roses;  thorns  decorating their stems, and the petals a blush red. Nate knelt  down,  the  grass tickling his  feet,  reaching  his hand forward to stroke the delicate petals. His fingers brushed against the cherry-red petals, feeling the softness of them for a second before the petals melted and oozed over Nate's hand and the grass around him. The gentle  red  colour  became   a harsh  crimson,   and a putrid stench wafted from melted red mess. Nate's eyes widened, knowing the smell right away. _Blood._  He rushed back up to his feet and shook the sticky dark red liquid off of his hand. Looking around in panic, he noticed that all of the roses around him had melted into blood, slowly pooling around him, slowly thickening and trapping his feet. _The fuck is this?!_

"Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest. White is cold and always yearning, burdened by a royal test. Black the beast descends from shadows. Yellow beauty burns gold." 

Nate's head snapped up at the sound a a silent voice. His eyes met with a person standing on the increasing pool of blood as if it was never there. The person was wearing a circular white mask which seemed to cover the entire front of their face, making it hard for Nate to tell if it was a male or female. A blank expression seemed to cover the mask, part of it being covered by the person's dark fringe. Nate blinked at them, unsure if they were looking at him. "Who are you?" 

"It doesn't matter now. The petals scatter now and every nightmare just discloses. It's your blood that's red like roses." The mask figure spoke ominously, the voice confirming to Nate that it was a male. 

Nate gave him a puzzled look. "You're not making any sense." 

"Red like roses. It must fill your head with dreams. Then you'll find yourself closer to the emptiness and sadness that has come to take the place of you." 

Nate opened his mouth to question the masked man, but before any words could come out, Nate felt a sharp and painful sting in his neck. Nate snapped his hand over the increasing sting of agony that was spreading across his neck, starting to burn his skin. His vision became blurred and his head felt fuzzy. He felt himself collapse and the world around him went white. 

  

  

  

"And then this owl came flying through my window screaming 'Where's Rachel?'. I ended up telling it that I don't know anyone called Rachel and the owl looked confused and whispered 'Everything I knew was a lie.' Then I woke up." Jack finished. 

"Wow." Mark snorted. "That's one mess up fucking dream." 

Matt laughed before eating a mouthful of his breakfast. Jason blinked in puzzlement. "What do you do to get these dreams?" 

"No fucking idea." Jack shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. 

Matt continued to eat his breakfast, listening to the conversation that was spiraling in strange directions. It was a no lesson day, meaning the students could do what they wanted. Mark decided to gather the squad together for breakfast and to hang out for the day. They all agreed. Being hungry, Matt went with them to the dining hall, told them that he was going to visit Stampy afterwards to hand him the envelope that Dan gave him, and they all seemed cool with it. Despite Stampy only be brought into Gate last night for treatment, word about him had spread around Gate like a plague; some Light Keepers being bitter about him staying, while others were hoping him to recover and get well. 

The doors of the dining hall swung open and Matt and the rest of the Light Keepers' attention fell on the door as AJ walked in, Dan following him behind him, an unreadable expression on his face. The room went silent, all focus of AJ and Dan as they stood in the middle hall. 

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" AJ demanded. "This information is being broadcast to every speaker around Gate and I want everyone listening since some of you listening may want to help with this task." AJ paused for a moment, probably checking to make sure everyone was still focusing on his speech. He then gestured to Dan. "This is Dan Middleton from Thunder. He has come to us asking for help to dethrone Ruben as Thunder's leader."


	33. Months

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Mutters and stares broke out between the Light Keepers in the dining hall. One person turned towards Dan, who was standing next to AJ nervously. "Dethrone your leader? You can't just do that!"

"I hate the thought of doing it myself but-" Dan hesitated for a moment. "-I would  have  never  come over here asking for help if it was just for my benefit. This is for the entirety of Thunder. Most of us don't like Ruben, all of us know he wasn't chosen as our leader's successor-"

"Well, do you know  _who_  your successor is suppose to be?" Another Light Keeper questioned.

"I-no." Dan admitted. "I don't."

More mutters escaped. Matt shared an uneasy yet sympathetic gaze with the members of Mark's squad around him. He then looked back to Dan, who was looking down at his feet. AJ raised his hand for silence and he quickly got what he wanted. He lowered his hand. "Dan. Explain to us how bad the situations have become at Thunder."

Dan moved his gaze up to look at AJ, nodded, before speaking, choosing his words carefully. "Thunder is not in a good state. Thunder works a bit differently than the other GHOST cities; we learn to mine and hunt for our own resources that we need to create technology such as teleporters, holograms, weapon key chains, other useful equipment. But all the resources we collect are sent to our leader for safe keeping and, as a leader, they're  supposed to decide where the resources go and what should be created. And well, Ruben's not giving out any orders on what to create with the resources and he's hogging all of it to himself. Now we can't make anything to offer to other cities for trade, meaning we can't get any money to supply our city with and we can't grow or obtain too much food...and we're slowly starving."

The dining hall went silent, everyone listening intently. Matt blinked at Dan. _This must be a real struggle for Thunder if they can't trade. Every city supplies and trades different equipment to each other. G ate supplies all the cities with healing flowers and first aid, Harmony gives food for Passive and Tamable Monsters, Opal  trades books and magic, Sol hands out blades and bullets to make stronger and more complex weapons, and Thunder gives out technology and they create the weapon key chains. _Dan continued."I'm not asking to go violent on Ruben, maybe just help us talk to him. We're not in the best health to go on a civil war with our own city."

"What about the other cities?" Matt recognised Marzia's soft voice. "Are they going to help you dethrone Ruben as well?"

"My friend Lizzie asked Harmony a few days ago but they turned us down and Jordan has gone to ask Opal but I haven't heard anything from him yet." Dan answered.

"What about other Light Keepers in Thunder? Will they help?" Felix questioned.

"Most Light Keepers in Thunder are either too weak or fearful to turn against our leader and some of them believe that Ruben is the right leader. However, my squad and one other squad have teamed up and we've strengthened as much as we can but, we won't be able to take Ruben down by ourselves. Please, we really need help." Dan pleaded.

A few moments of silence went by, then Matt watched as a male Light Keeper rose to his feet. Matt  recognised  him as  Ian , the Four Star Light Keeper he had briefly saw on the tube train. Ian looked at AJ. "Sir, I'd happily volunteer lead a patrol over to Thunder. If a city comes over asking for help, we should accept their offer. The GHOST cities need to work together after all."

AJ nodded in respect and Dan's eyes glowed lightly with hope. Gradually, other Light Keepers began rising to their feet; Matt recognised Jirard, Felix, and Sparrow among the stood up Light Keepers. Matt then stood up, along with the rest of Mark's squad . Only about a quarter of the Light Keepers in the dining hall were still sitting. Dan smiled  at all the Light Keepers who were standing up . H is eyes drifted to Matt and he mouthed ' t hank you.' Matt gave him a reassuring nod in reply. Dan then turned to AJ. "Thank you. After you help us dethrone Ruben, we'll  definitely  owe you something."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, we still need to try and talk Ruben into submission." AJ told him sternly. Dan nodded. AJ turned back to scan the stood up Light Keepers. "I appreciate everyone who's standing up ,  wanting to help ,  but I'm afraid I can't pick everyone. There will be two patrols; one which will go and try and talk to Ruben and a second patrol for back up just in case talking doesn't work." AJ continued to scan the stood up Light Keepers, picking those to put on the patrols. "Ian, since you volunteered, you'll lead the patrol to talk; but bring weapon  key chains  in case the worst happens. Take Sparrow Rayne, Anima Dot, Phil Lester, Jirard Khalil, Stephanie Cordato, and Matthew Patrick."

Matt shared a nervous yet excited glance with Stephanie, and in the corner of his eye he caught a look at a jealous Mark, Jack ,  and Jason. Matt's mind raced with motivation. He listened as AJ listed a back up patrol for Ian to call if they need  back up . After the  back up p atrol was created AJ looked among the Light Keepers in the dining hall. "Those who are in Ian's squad, gather tomorrow outside the main building at twelve o'clock, midday, and Dan will take you over to Thunder to meet up with his and another squad."

Everyone in Ian's patrol nodded. Dan looked extremely grateful. "I can't thank you guys enough. I'll head back to Thunder to tell my friends; and to see if Jordan's had any luck with Opal."

AJ dipped his head. "Very well. You can do that-"

"Hold on. What's going to happen about Stampy?"

AJ turned to the Light Keeper who called out. "Dan and I have discussed that Stampy will be safer here until Ruben is deposed of, then he can return to Thunder afterwards. "

Satisfied mutters ran out. "It's settled then. Ian ,  your squad  will  meet at the main building by midday tomorrow, remember?" AJ confirmed.

"Yes sir." Ian nodded.

AJ nodded before walking out of the dining hall, Dan following him out. Everyone gradually sat back down  an d  finished their meal. Matt looked up to the rest of the squad. "I'm going to visit Stampy."

All of them nodded in understanding, Stephanie then spoke. "I'll come with you. There's medical supplies at the hospital building that I need to pick up for Peepachu, so I might as well tag along."

Matt got up from his seat and smiled. "Okay." Stephanie jumped up after him and they walked out of the dining hall and to the tube train.

Rain bolted down from the granite sky, droplets  decorating  the leaves and trees of the forest around. Footsteps echoed on the sound of wet grass and leaves as a male with long, spiked out, raven black hair, crimson-brown eyes and only one arm darted through the mess of the forest,  the clothing of Opal festooning his body. He listened as the growls of werewolves came closer. Knowing he couldn't outrun these monsters anymore, he hastily grabbed  and twirled his weapon  key chain , a black and red scythe with a silver blade materialising . He effortlessly swung it behind him, perfectly timing a blow through a werewolf's head as it attempted to jump at him. Rapidly, he kicked it off the end of his blade and brought it around in time to impale another werewolf through the stomach. Like the last one, he kicked it off, the flaming blood staining the blade of the scythe as the werewolf was kicked onto the cold earth. Despite having only one arm, and having a weapon which required two hands, he still managed to fight pretty well; but hearing the amount of footsteps heading his direction, he knew he couldn't stay around and fight them all off. He hurriedly ran and came across a tiny wooden cabin which was sitting in the middle of the trees. He ran up to it and started hitting the door quickly and multiple times. "Hey guys! Open up!"

Almost immediately, his pleas were accepted and the door swung open. He ran in and the door was shut abruptly behind him. He felt hands grab his shoulder and helped him stay on his feet.

"March! Are you alright?" He heard the concerned voice of his brother, January.

March nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Is everyone else here?"

January bit his lip. "June and May haven't returned yet."

"Shit." March mumbled. "I'll go out and find them."

"No ,  you  won't ." March whipped his head up as he saw April and his youngest sister, February, walk into the room. April glared at him, tapping February lightly on the shoulder. "Do you know how Feb would feel if her eldest brother got himself killed?"

"But June and May are still out there!" March argued.

"And you're in no condition to run out and  fine  them." April retaliated. She then nodded towards his missing arm. "Especially like that."

March looked down at his missing arm. January narrowed his eyes at April. "March is fine."

"A vampire bite is not what I would call 'fine'."

"That's why we cut his arm off, to stop the bite from triggering the transformation."

"We don't even know if that worked." April mumbled. March kept his gaze on the nub that was all that remained of his arm. She was right. They cut off his arm, hoping that it would stop the transformation from happening, but he didn't feel any better.

April then sighed. "I'll grab November and scout the area, see if we can find June and May."

"Sounds good." March muttered, his gaze falling to the floor.

April walked off upstairs, searching for November. January eyed March pitifully. "December has almost finished dinner, come into the kitchen when you're ready."

March nodded, his vision still on the floor. He listened as January's footsteps faded away; and then looked up when the soft sounding footsteps of February approached him. Her pink hair was tied back into a bun and her ice blue eyes gazed up warmly at March. March gave his youngest sister an innocent smile. "Hey Feb, you okay?"

Feb gave a tiny nod. She then looked up and down March's missing arm. "March." She spoke softly. "Do you really think that cutting your arm off helped? Stopped the vampire bite from effecting you?"

March blinked slowly, his crimson-brown gaze gently eyeing his sister's worry and innocent eyes. Hesitantly March sighed, shrugged his shoulders and gave a reply. "I don't know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for how long this chapter took, life is a thing which happens I'm afraid. But now that it's half term, uploads might be a bit more frequent for a week. Hope you guys are still enjoying this :)


	34. Friend or Foe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)

Nate slowly blinked himself awake. His vision gradually came back to him and he made out his surrounds. He was inside the mansion where the uprising was meeting up for fighting practice. Pushing himself up to a sitting position, Nate raked his hand through his hair, his fingers brushing his antlers slightly. Sudden  agony erupted in the back of his neck. He put his hand over the back of his neck to clench his hand over the pain. He then stiffened. He remembered something entering and stinging the back of neck, feeling as if it was melting of his skin. He was expecting to feel a scar of some sort but he was wrong. It wasn't a scar; it was a hole. Fresh blood outlined it and Nate estimated that it was a tiny bit smaller than his palm. Nate, trying to ignore the pain increasing in his neck, moved his hand away and eye the blood that now stained his palm.

"You're awake."

Nate turned his head to see Cassie in the doorway, holding a mug which Nate guessed had tea or some other hot drink that humans had. She took a sip before speaking again. "You just suddenly collapsed last night. Do you feel better?"

Nate gave a small nod. "Yeah, I'm fine." he grumbled.

Cassie did not look convinced but she shrugged it off. "It's morning, the Normals in the city will be up and around. So, feel free to stay in here until night."

"Thanks." Nate muttered.

Cassie turned around to walk out of the room, but she spoke again before walking out. "We got some left over human meat downstairs if you want any."

Nate opened his mouth to respond but she walked out of the room before he could talk. Nate adjusted his glasses, then rose to his feet. The blinds of the window to his side were shut, so no Normals could see him. He growled when his neck began stinging again. Though not as bad as before, it still ached like hell. Rubbing his neck to try and wipe away the pain, Nate slowly walked out of the room and wandered around the mansion. He poked his head in each room strolled by, curiously looking at what was in each room. All the rooms he looked into were all decent sizes and full of random crap, nothing that really interested him. He stuck his head inside another room. It was a light  coloured  room, and as Nate looked at the human things inside it, his memory gradually came back. If his memory served correct, he was looking at a bathroom, with a bath, sink and a mirror which directly faced him. Looking into the mirror, Nate examined the figure looking back at him. He was staring at himself; messy ebony hair with small antlers sticking out of it, brown eyes, glasses which had a tiny crack in the corner, ragged and ripped up clothing, skin as pale as paper. Nate smiled weakly at his reflection and closed his eyes, and sung silently to himself. "Mirror. Tell me something. Tell me who's the loneliest of all. Mirror, tell me something. Tell me who's the loneliest of all. Fear of what's inside me. Tell me can a heart be turned to stone? Mirror  mirror, what's behind you? Save me from the things I see. I can keep it from the world, why won't you let me hide from me? Mirror  mirror, tell me something. Who's the loneliest of all?" The smile of his face dropped. "I'm the loneliest of all."

He opened his eyes- and the figure in the mirror changed. Nate was now staring at a man with spiked out black hair, crimson-brown eyes, and he only had one arm. Nate shook his head and blinked rapidly a few times, and it had changed back to his own reflection. Confused, Nate slowly backed out of the room.  He walked through the rest of the hallway and into the kitchen. Jesse sat in a chair, her head collapsed on the island bar- Nate guessed she was hungover from the amount of blood she drunk the other night. Cassie was sitting in the chair opposite her, legs on the island bar and she was scrolling through her phone. She looked up at Nate for a second before her eyes glued back to her phone. "Human meat leftovers in the fridge."

Nate nodded. Following her instructions, he opened the fridge and pulled out a human arm. Hunger curled inside him. He looked back at Cassie. "Are you sure you're okay with me having this?"

Cassie gave a thumbs up in response. Nate dug his fangs into meat and ripped it off. He took another few mouthfuls before his neck ached again. Nate grumbled and put his hand over the back of it.  _Why does that keep happening? Well,  there is a fucking hole in the back of my neck, I _ _guess that would hurt._  He removed his hand slowly before returning to his food, missing Cassie as she gazed at him triumphantly.

A sudden loud crash at the door caused Nate and Cassie to snap their gaze towards the entrance of the mansion. Cassie leaped to her feet and approached the door quickly yet cautiously. Nate stayed where he was so that in case a Normal was at the door for some reason, he wouldn't be seen. He bit into the arm and chewed another mouthful of meat. Nate listened as he heard Cassie open the door; and heard the familiar gruff voice of Brett.

"This fucker sold us out!"

"Not my fault!" A voice Nate didn't recognise retaliated. The voice was high pitched and had a hint of a British accent. "Ow! Let go of my ear, that hurts!"

"Not your fault?  _Not your fault!?_ Because of you, five vampires, three hellhounds, and six werewolves are dead!" Brett growled 

"Hey, I told you when we first met, I won't keep any promises and I'm not a part of your uprising. I'm just doing your dirty little spying work because you can't be asked to do it yourselves-"

The stranger's voice was interrupted abruptly by the sound of a slap. Curiosity taking the best of him, Nate placed the human arm down and walked towards the door to see what was going on. He saw Brett, Cassie and a small man standing in the hallway. The man had electric blue hair with a fringe that hung over a fraction of his left eye and a thin, tiny, black goatee. He had his eyes closed and his hand over his face, rubbing it as if something had just smacked him. His scent confused Nate. It was a mixture of different monster scents and Nate couldn't tell what monster he was- or if he was a monster at all. He slowly opened his eyes to reveal unnatural yellow eyes and as soon as they connected with Nate's, they began pleading for help. Feeling pity build up inside him, Nate approached the three of them. "Cassie, what's going on?"

Cassie and Brett looked over to Nate. Brett grumbled. "None of your business."

"Init?" The blue haired male hissed. "He's a monster that's a part of this so called 'uprising' that you have going on. Of course it's his business."

"Shut the fuck up traitor." Brett snarled.

"I don't think it's really considered betrayal if I wasn't on your side to begin with." The stranger commented.

"Both of you, shut up." Cassie ordered. Brett obeyed hesitantly while the blue haired monster folded his arms and frowned, his yellow gaze burning into Cassie's amber eyes. He remained quiet though. Cassie turned her head away and looked at Nate. "This is Charlie Short. A shape shifter who agreed to spy on the Light Keepers . But-" Her gaze snapped back to looked at the monster. "-he had gotten a little too comfortable with those Light Keepers and is slowly selling us out." Her eyes narrowed dangerously and her voice became more aggressive.

Charlie pouted. "Well, there's no need for that tone. I made it clear to you years ago when you first told me to spy on the  Light Keepers . I'm not on your side, I'm not on their side. I'm on my side, which is what side I feel like - I guess."

"Oh, and I assume that gives you the right to turn in fourteen monsters?" Cassie growled sarcastically.

Nate heard Charlie gulp.

"And that 's not it." Cassie began walking closer to Charlie, who was beginning to back away. "You've sold out many hideouts, led many monsters into traps set put by Light Keepers and  _you_ got my brother _killed_ . "

Charlie laughed nervously. "I didn't mean to..."

Cassie pulled her hand back and clenched her hand in a fist, ready to hit the shape shifter. Charlie put his hands up in surrender. "There's no need for violence!" Charlie pleaded.

Cassie went to punch at Charlie but Nate grabbed her arm before it could connect with Charlie's face. Cassie and Brett looked at Nate in anger, but Charlie looked at him in shock. Nate whispered into Cassie's ear. "If this guy is spying  on  the Light Keepers for you and you're violent towards him, he'll likely sell out more monsters in return for being nasty to him. Get on his good side and he'll most likely stop selling out monsters."

Cassie eyed Nate, curiosity glowing  in her eyes at what he told her. She pulled her arm out of Nate's grasp and kept it by her side. "Charlie?"

"Y-yes?" Charlie stuttered.

"Tomorrow night, come here. We'll talk then." Cassie told him.

Charlie blinked, slightly confused. "Okay."

Cassie eyed him bitterly before walking into the living room, Brett followed her,  leaving Nate and Charlie in the hallway. Charlie looked at Nate gratefully. "Thanks for that. You heard earlier but I'm Charlie."

Nate nodded. "Nate."

Charlie smiled. "Well, it was nice to meet you, but I need to get back to Opal now. Before they  realise  I'm missing."

Nate cocked his head to one side. "Missing?"

"Yeah. When I said I'm spying of the Light Keepers, I mean I'm pretending to be one of them." Charlie explained. "I've been chosen to go on a mission tomorrow with some other Opal Light Keepers and I believe some Light Keepers from Gate are joining us as well."

"What's the mission?" Nate question.

"We're going to Thunder to dethrone the leader." 

"And Light Keepers from Gate are helping you out?"

"That's what we've been told."

"Well if you do go with some Light Keepers with Gate, if there's a person called Matt with them can you please make sure nothing bad happens to him?" Nate asked. "I'll make it up to you after."

Charlie thought for a moment before nodding. "Sure thing. But no need to make it up to me, if Matt's there I'll keep him safe as a thank you for not letting Cassie hit me."

Nate smiled with relief. "Thank you."

Charlie smiled back before turning away to open to the door and strolling out. Nate watched him walk away for a second, before closing the door and following Cassie and Brett into the living room.

"What!?" Stampy exclaimed. "Dan's just come over and now you and a few others are going to overthrow Ruben?!"

"Yeah, that's what I said." Matt confirmed.

Stampy looked bewildered. Matt eyed the Thunder Light Keeper. Stampy had been healed and was resting in the hospital building. Matt and Stephanie went to visit him. Matt handed him the  envelope  that Dan wanted him to give to Stampy. Stampy was grateful, but he questioned Matt how he got a hold of his equipment. When Matt told him that Dan had come over, he had ended up telling him about Dan asking Gate for help to take Ruben down and getting Stampy to return back to Thunder. Stampy shuffled nervously under his duvet. "But, why? Why would they come back to get me? After I abandoned them?"

"Well, they  obviously  don't care about that and care about your well being." Matt told him.

Stampy looked down at his hands. "Maybe." He paused for a moment. "Well, thanks for telling me. I might be able to return home soon if that works out."

"I hope they do." Matt muttered. "Well, I need to go. I told Steph that I'll help her with Peepachu medical supplies."

Stampy nodded. "Okay, thanks for visiting me."

Matt gave him a friendly smile before leaving the room shutting the door noiselessly behind him. He strolled through the building to the reception. Stephanie stood there with two bags full of supplies which Matt presumed were for her dragon, Peepachu. Stephanie smiled as he walked over. "Is Stampy okay?" She question.

"Yeah, he just has a lot going on really." Matt shrugged. He scanned the bags she was holding. "Need help with any of that?"

"Maybe carry this? It's got all his dragon riding stuff in it and it's pretty heavy." She said, handing the bag over to him. Matt took the bag, the weight pulling it down slightly but he managed.

A light buzzing sound reverberate and Stephanie reached her hand into her pocket, pulling out her phone and putting it to her ear. "Hello? Hi Krism." She went silent for a moment, listening to Krism over the phone. Matt watched as her face fell. "Coming over right now." She clicked her phone off and looked at Matt. " Something's happened in the Tamable Monsters pen. We need to go there, now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Nate sings is 'Mirror Mirror' from Rooster Teeth's RWBY White Trailer
> 
> Also if anyone knows which youtuber Charlie is, I'll be very happy since I'm the only person out of my friends who watches him


	35. Grim Bug

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)
> 
> Also I apologise if for past chapters and future chapters, they are some extra spaces between some words, that just happens sometimes.

Matt trailed behind Stephanie as they rushed out of the tube train and inside the Tamable Monsters barn. Each pen was a decent size for the monster it was housing and each had roofs sheltering them. A ll of them had a feeding trough and a water trough. Phoenixes, dragons, pegai (multiple pegasus), unicorns, and other mystical monsters occupied the pens, blithely sitting around and eyeing Matt and Stephanie curiously as they ran by. After a bit, they slowed down and halted in front of a pen where Stephanie's dragon, Peepachu, stood proudly, his golden scales glimmering. Stephanie placed the bags she was holding down in front of the pen and Matt mimicked her action with the bag he was carrying. He looked over to her. "Steph, what's happened?" He questioned. "Why did we rush over here?" 

"Something's happened to one of the Tamable  Monsters." Stephanie explained. "I'm not too sure what exactly happened, but when something happens to one of the Tamable Monsters to set them off, the owners of the other monsters need to come over to look after their monster just in case something sets them off as well."

"Makes sense." Matt commented. Looking around, he noticed that other Light Keepers stood around certain pens caring for their creatures. Feeling something nudge his back, Matt turned around to see Peepachu had lightly headbutted him in the back.

Stephanie laughed softly. "Peepachu, stop pestering Matt for attention."

"It's fine." Matt reassured her. He moved his hand and stroked the dragon's snout. Peepachu blinked his dark eyes warmly.

Stephanie smiled. "Well, do you mind keeping him occupied while I put fresh food in his feeding trough?"

Matt nodded. "Sure."

Stephanie gave a thankful nod before opening the gate of Peepachu's pen to let herself in. Matt watched as she grabbed a bucket in the corner of the pen and began scooping remains of old food out of the trough before replacing it fresh food. Keeping his hand on the dragon's snout, Matt gazed around the Tamable Monster barn, admiring the well built shelter for the Tamable Monsters. His eyes slowly travelled up to the ceiling. Matt's eyes glowed with curiosity as he made out a painting on the ceiling. It was of a woman with pink hair, which was tied up behind her, and icy blue eyes. She was holding her hands out, many Tamable Monsters gladly standing around her. Matt blinked . "Hey Steph."

"Yeah?" Stephanie turned to face Matt.

"Who's this painting of?" He question, his gaze still glued to the ceiling.

Stephanie poked her head out of the pen and looked up to see what Matt was looking at. "February Month." Stephanie answered. "One of the first Light Keepers to exist and the first Light Keeper to find out that some monsters could be tamed to become allies. It's because of her we have Tamable Monsters on our side, so that painting is a memorial of her. She became know as the sibling of knowledge."

Matt blinked and moved his gaze to face Stephanie. "Did she have siblings?"

Stephanie nodded. "There were twelve siblings, all of them are remembered by a specific trait each. January, the sibling of loyalty. February, the sibling of knowledge. March, the sibling of willpower. April, the sibling of dreams. May, the sibling of coherence. June, the sibling of clarity. July, the sibling of wisdom. August, the sibling of faith. September, the sibling of patience. October, the sibling of valour. November, the sibling of trust. And December, the sibling of acceptance. All of them are really important to Light Keeper history. They all had their roles, but you don't learn that much about them until you reach the three star rank." She concluded.

Matt nodded in understanding.

A sudden shriek reverberated  through out the barn. Matt and Stephanie went silent and listen intently. Peepachu snapped his head up and grumbled, his gaze tense. A few other Tamable Monsters did the same when they heard the noise. Stephanie  placed  a hand on his scales and muttered something which Matt couldn't catch. Another yelp ran out. Peepachu and a couple other monsters made an unintelligible noise which sounded stressful. Stephanie hushed Peepachu before thinking aloud. "I wonder what's going on."

"I could go check." Matt offered. "You're here to keep Peepachu calm so he doesn't set off. I can see what's going on, come back and let you know."

"If you want to, sure, just be careful. Tamable Monsters can get quite aggressive." Stephanie warned him.

"Will do." Matt promised. He wandered off in the direction where the shrieks came from. He walked passed disturbed looking monsters, all probably as confused about what was going on as he was. Another howl echoed throughout the barn, closer this time. Picking up his pace, Matt walked further into the barn. He eventually approach a pen which had a small crowd of Light Keepers around it. Most of them looked about his age or younger. There were only two Light Keepers who looked older than him and Matt recognised one of them as Ian but he had never seen the other Light Keeper, who was a woman with black hair and her skin was slightly darker than average. She was wearing a backpack which had many tools hanging off of it. Ian was pacing around, trying to shoo away the crowd around them while the female Light Keeper stared into the pen they were surrounding, looking deep in thought as if she was calculating something. As Matt got closer, he  recognised  Marzia among the crowd and walked over to her. "What's happened?" He asked her quietly.

Marzia turned to face him and shrugged. "Not completely sure. A phoenix just suddenly got aggravated."

Raising an eyebrow, Matt looked forward to look at the scene. A child sized phoenixbeat its wings furiously and cried out. Its feathers were a glowing blaze of red and yellow and its eyes were bloodshot and vicious. Ian had begrudgingly given up shooing away the crowd and was now talking to the high ranked female Light Keeper. Matt asked Marzia who she was and she told him that her name was Krism Pro; a five star ranked Light Keeper and head of the Tamable Monster classes. Matt then listened to the conversation Ian and Krism were having.

"Maybe we can call over Arin or Jeff, or anyone else from Harmony over?" Ian suggested.

"Harmony's calming touch won't be able to keep the poor thing under control." Krism responded. She gazed up at the phoenix thoughtfully. She then bit her lip. "Huh." She said aloud.

Ian raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Distract the phoenix for a bit, won't you? I think I know what has cause it to act like this." Krism told him.

Ian nodded reluctantly. He gazed over the crowd of people briefly. "If you want to watch, then please stand back. Give us some elbow room." He instructed.

The crowd moved back a few steps. Matt watched as Ian made a few noises to attract the Tamable Monster's attention. The phoenix roared at Ian, who continued to made clicking noises to distract it. Moving his gaze to Krism, Matt noticed her grab a pair of tweezers from her backpack. She silent sneaked into the pen and behind the phoenix. Her gaze seemed to have connected with something on the back of the creature's neck. Raising the tweezers, Krism poked them at the back of the monster's neck. Before the  phoenix  could register what was happening, Krism quickly pulled the tweezers away and on the end of them was a small bug which looked like a cockroach. It was completely black, apart from it's underbelly which was red. Matt looked over to the  phoenix  in shock. As soon as the bug was removed, its inflamed eyes were now gone and it had suddenly calmed down, resting its wings peacefully. The entire crowd was just as confused as Matt was, muttering to each other in awe and puzzlement. Ian patted the  phoenix's  small head and spoke to it quietly. While he was doing that, Krism walked out of the pen, still with the tweezers and the odd bug at the end of them.

Krism looked over the crowd. She smiled lightly. "Extra lesson for you guys. This-" She gestured to the bug on the end of the tweezers. "-is called a grim bug. A Neutral Monster that  doesn't pose a threat to us, but they can be nasty to  monsters. These little bugs can dig into the back of the neck of any Passive, Tamable, Neutral, Dangerous and Cannibalistic Monster. They burrow into the neck, leaving a hole inthe skin, which causes a horrible stinging and burning feeling for the monster. Then they nestle inside the neck and when they do, they give off a negative aura, which affects the monster they're  inside, causing the monster's most violent nature to come out. The monster's eyes become red and they become really pissed. Once the bug is removed, they will turn back to normal."

Interested mutters broke out between the crowd. Matt just shared a glance with Marzia.

Krism spoke again. "Okay, the situation is over, nothing to see here, go back and do whatever."

The crowd broke away. Matt said bye to Marzia before heading back in the direction where Stephanie and Peepachu were.It didn't take long for him to return to them. Stephanie had refreshed Peepachu's food and water and was sitting patiently on the floor. When Matt was visible to her, she shot up to her feet."What happened?" She questioned.

Matt explained about the phoenix with the grim bug inside it.

"Odd. Don't normally get grim bugs around here." She commented.

"Well, I wouldn't know." Matt shrugged.

"Anyway, I've finished changing Peepachu's food and I've organised all his stuff inside his pen. How about we hang out with Mark, Jack and Jason for some training practice before going for an earlier bedtime? I mean, we need rest for the mission tomorrow." Stephanie suggested.

"Sounds good." Matt agreed. He stroked Peepachu's golden snout one last time. "See you later, Peepachu."

Peepachu gave a grunt in response. Matt smiled before walking with Stephanie out of the barn and to the Training Grounds.


	36. Family of the Forgotten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Futurewatcher for helping me edit this chapter :)
> 
> And also thanks to all of you reading for 3000+ hits and over 150 kudos. I never expected this fic to become this popular and thanks to all of you reading I can keep writing knowing I have a lot of people who enjoy reading it. Thank you all :)

Nate slumped onto the grass where he had marked his territory. Night time had fell a while ago and he made his way back over to  w h ere  he lived. He nuzzled himself under the tall blades of grass, breathing in the smell of pollen from nearby flowers. Before leaving, he asked Cassie a little bit about Charlie, and she gave very bitter responses. From Cassie, he had been told that Charlie is unpredictable, tricky. One day he'll help out the uprising, another day he'll help out the Light Keepers. Nate also asked her if she knew how Charlie got in and out of the force fields, which blocked Dangerous and Cannibalistic Monsters, but she grunted, saying that Charlie refused to tell any other monster. 

Grumbling, Nate shifted himself into a more comfortable position. He gazed up at the sky, blinking at the stars that brightened up the sky. He waited for a while, to see if Matt was going to stop by for the night- but he didn't.  _Maybe he's busy._ Nate guessed. He was pretty disappointed. He hadn't seen Matt since they found Stampy and he longed to see the Light Keeper again, curl up on the grass with him and bitch about life. Then again, Matt had training, other Light Keepers to hang around with, missions to go on, so he would be tired as hell if he met up with Nate every  night, so Nate understood his reasons. And tonight he was quite grateful that Matt didn't showing up; he felt exhausted, his neck hurt, although not as bad as earlier, and the biggest reason he was thankful that Matt wasn't here, his hunger had increased  suddenly. Despite eating a few mouthfuls earlier, hunger clawed Nate's stomach. Maybe it's because he only ate a little, maybe he was just having a hungry moment, he wasn't sure; but he was glad that Matt wasn't around to set off his hunger even more. Deciding to try and sleep off the feeling, Nate closed his eyes and drifted into sleep.

The morning went very quick for Matt. He had a quick cooked breakfast and had a Neutral Monster class as his first lesson, where he and the rest of the class mainly learned about trolls and giants. He then had Normal studies, which was learning about Normals and what to do if a Normal confronted you. Apparently, Normals thought that Light Keepers were members of a weird religion that believed in monsters and if you went out on a mission where wearing uniform is required and you stumble across a Normal place, most Normals will walk up and harass you. Throughout the lesson, Matt heard a handful of Light Keepers mutter things like 'Ungrateful Normals, and 'A thank you for saving us from getting murdered by monsters would be nice.'

Five minutes before the end of the lesson, Ian Macleod walked in and asked for Matt, Stephanie and Phil. Filled with excitement, Matt hastily packed up his things and got up, Stephanie right behind him. Phil messily scrambled to his feet and joined them . He was fairly tall with short black hair and icy eyes and his skin was very pale. The three two star ranked Light Keepers walked out of the lesson and joined the four star ranked Light Keeper.

Ian eyed the three of them. "You all got everything?"

Matt, Stephanie and Phil nodded enthusiastically.

Ian dipped his head. "Alright, let's head over to the main building. Anima has gone to get Sparrow so she and Jirard will meet us there. We'll be taking the tube train from here to Opal, then to Thunder. It'll be quite a long ride so if you have homework or anything, feel free to do it on the ride there."

All of them nodded. Ian took lead as they walked through the hallways. Phil then piped up. "By that logic, I guess some people from Opal are joining us?"

Ian looked back to Phil when he replied. "Yes, but only three Light Keepers from Opal are helping us. With Dodger as their new leader, she still needs to get used to the new role upon her and they've been having troubles with flooding lately, so they need all the Light Keepers they can get. I don't know which three are helping us, but we'll meet them soon enough."

They walked out of the school building and hopped on a tube train for a quick ride to the main building. When they arrived,  Anima, Sparrow, and Jirard were already there. AJ stood there too, his hands behind his back. AJ blinked warmly as Ian, Matt, Stephanie and Phil approached them. "Remember, Ian you're in charge on behalf of Gate for this mission. Do not resort to violence unless it's a final option."

"Yes sir." Ian nodded.

AJ blinked gratefully. He eyed everyone gently. "Be safe; all of you." He gave them a friendly smile before walking off. Matt watched him walk away into the main building.

"Alright, let's get going." Ian ordered. "It'll take about twenty minutes to get to Opal and a little under two hours to get to Thunder, so sit tight."

Everyone nodded and followed  Ian to  the tube train  that  was waiting for them. They all entered and sat down on the seats. Ian, Jirard, and Anima sat together while Matt sat down with Stephanie, Phil and Sparrow. The tube train started up and began rolling along through Gate. Matt gazed out of the window, watching the scenery fly  by.

"So, have any of you been to Thunder before?" Phil asked, starting up a conversation.

Matt and Stephanie  shook  their heads and Stephanie spoke. "No I haven't."

Sparrow tilted her head. "I went once for a trade mission a few years ago but I didn't see much of the place. I remember it looking very futuristic, objects flying around, machinery everywhere yet little pollution, but I didn't go inside any of the buildings."

"Well, I guess it'll kinda be an experience for all of us." Matt commented.

Phil nodded brightly. "I'm excited."

All of them talked together; talking about training, missions, monsters and lessons. Matt learned that Sparrow also had a cat familiar called  Miakitty  who, like Skip, had healing abilities. He also learned everyone on the train's signature weapon; Sparrow had a katana, Phil had a grappling hook, Anima  had a bow, Jiriard  had a flamethrower, and Ian had a shot gun. While Matt, Stephanie, Phil and Sparrow were in a middle of a conversation about  hell hounds  and demons, the train pulled to a halt suddenly, causing everyone to freeze.

Stephanie blinked. "We've probably stopped at Opal to pick up the three Light Keepers who are helping us." She guessed.

"Any idea who they might be?" Sparrow questioned .

Phil shrugged helplessly and Matt muttered an 'I don't know'. Matt looked out of the window to have a quick glance at Opal. The city looked a lot different than Gate-  it  was surrounded by water, pathways made of stones serving as walkways and some docks sat on top. The outside of  the  buildings that Matt could see looked like aquariums and they were a fair bit smaller than the buildings in Gate. On one of the docks, Matt could make out the shape of a handful of children and a few adults, one adult was in the water and helping a kid swim around him. Matt guessed that it was a swimming lesson of some sort.

The doors of the train opened, Matt turned his head to see three Light Keepers that he didn't recognised boarded the train, two males and a female. One male had slightly tanned skin, short raven  coloured  hair and dark eyes. The other male was a lot smaller than everyone else on the train, with electric blue hair, a thin black goatee on his chin and golden eyes; which Matt felt looked odd and unnatural. The female Light Keeper had short pale pink  dyed hair and grey eyes.

The black haired male dipped his head in greeting to Ian. "We're here to help you dethrone Ruben with the small group of Thunder Light Keepers, I presume you're the one leading this patrol?"

"That's right." Ian confirmed. "Can you tell me your names?"

The raven haired man gestured to the female. "That's Holly Conrad." He then pointed over to the blue haired male. "That's Charlie Short." He then pointed to himself. "And I'm Jay Sharp."

_ Sharp._ Matt felt his body stiffen.  _That's Nate's last name. Are they related?   _Matt wondered.

"Alright, feel free to sit with our lot over there." Ian gestured over were Matt, Stephanie, Phil and Sparrow sat.

Jay nodded and walked over to the seats that were opposite Matt and the others. Jay, Charlie and Holly slumped down on the seats. Holly looked over all of them. "We know Ian, Anima and Jirard over there, do you mind tell us your names? You heard ours, only fair we knew yours."

Phil took it upon himself to introduce everyone, gesturing to the right person as he said their name. "I'm Phil Lester. This is Sparrow Rayne, Stephanie Cordato, and Matthew Patrick."

Matt felt Charlie give him a gaze, which made Matt feel uncomfortable but he quickly broke it to talk. "Well, it's nice to meet all of you."

Sparrow eyed them curiously. "What star rank are all of you?"

"We've all just graduated to three star." Holly told her. "What about you guys?"

"All of us are two star." Stephanie told them.

Silence went across them for a moment, the Jay spoke. "At the GHOST Gathering, you said you that Nate was alive but going through wendigo transformation." Jay's voice went quiet. "Are you sure that he's still alive?"

Matt nodded. "Pretty sure."

Jay narrowed his eyes. "Have you got any evidence?"

_Well, he saved me from falling into a ravine, I've met up with him a handful of times and we kissed this one time._  Matt thought to himself. Only AJ, Austin, and Stampy knew about him meeting with Nate, and  AJ told him to keep quiet about it so that when they get the Purity Flower Matt could take it over to Nate and get him to take it. Since Nate only seemed to trust Matt and would run out of sight when other Light Keepers ca me near him and that Nate is unable to go through the force field that protects Gate and just sit around it the city. Instead Matt said. "We found his weapon key chain  right outside of Gate's force field. It wasn't covered in dirt or anything, meaning it had to be freshly dropped."

"What evidence is there to say he's a wendigo?" Jay questioned.

"Why are you so desperate to know?" Phil asked, his head cocked slightly.

Jay went silent, biting his lip. Holly answered for him. "Nate's his half brother."

Matt's eyes widened slightly. Now that he looked at Jay, he could see the small similarities between him and Nate; both had black hair although Nate's was longer, both had dark brown eyes, and both had a slightly similar body structure, board shoulders and both were roughly the same height.

"Nate and I...  weren't the closest." Jay admitted. "I teased him for not being able to see supernatural creatures since I was younger and I could see them. I wasn't the nicest to him, but he didn't like me too much either. We had our fair share of sibling rivalry. When he didn't return from the camping trip he went on with his friends at first, I was fine; knowing him, he was probably pulling off some sort of trick. But then a week went by, two weeks, a month, a year- he was still missing. I've been pretty upset, thinking he's gone. When AJ said that you have evidence of him being alive, I was just filled with so much hope. It's hard thinking for five- almost six years now- that your brother is dead, but then you find out that someone has a lead that tells them that he is still alive. I just want to say, I'm grateful that you've found this clue and talked the other cities into helping find a Purity Flower and that I want to help any way I can."

Silence fell across everyone as they took in Jay's words. Charlie then snorted. "That's  an odd choice of words coming from you."

Jay smiled lightly. "Yeah, I know. But I just want to find my brother."

"You said that Nate couldn't see supernatural creatures, do you know why?" Sparrow asked.

"Not too sure." Jay shrugged.

"It's very rare, but some Light Keepers just have a delay to their ability to see supernatural stuff." Holly explained. "I myself had a delay, it wasn't until I was fourteen until I saw my first monster."

"Our leader AJ had a delay to his vision too." Stephanie added. "That's why Nate came to Gate, to get training from him, which would havehelped getting rid of the delay."

"The vision delay is not all that bad though. I mean, all of the Month siblings had the vision delay, and they've become twelve of the most well known and respected Light Keepers." Charlie chirped in.

Matt withdrew himself from the conversation and went into his thoughts. He'd just realised that he and Nate haven't met up over the past few days. Most of that was probably Matt's fault, with Stampy and the mission he was on now, he hadn't had the time to meet up with the wendigo.  _I'll meet up with you as soon as I get back Nate. I promise._

Nate snapped his eyes open from sleep as footsteps approached his direction. He scrambled himself to his feet and looked around, searching for what was walking near him. The smell of a human hit his nose and Nate felt hunger rake his stomach. He still wasn't sure why he felt starving despite him eating an arm a day ago, but he crept forward on his hands and feet as the footsteps grew louder, ready to pounce on  the human that was about to walk in front of him. The figure emerged and gave Nate a surprised look. Nate was about to leap himself at the human in front of him, but his senses came back to him and he recognised the person in front of him. "Stampy?"

"Nate! You gave me a heart attack." Stampy spoke bitterly.

"Sorry." Nate muttered. "I couldn't tell it was you."

Stampy blinked. "Not even by smell?"

Nate shook his head. "My senses are all fucked up. I feel like shit and it's almost like my wendigo side is taking over. I feel like I've been starved for a week too, even though I ate yesterday."

"You don't look too good either."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you look a lot rougher than last time and your eyes are a slight tinge of red." Stampy observed.

Nate grumbled. He put a hand to his head and rubbed his eyes. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

Stampy shuffled his feet. "I... I was heading back to Thunder."

Nate gave him a look. "Why? Got a death wish or something?"

"No! It's just... I feel like I should. Some Light Keepers from Gate and Opal are going over to try and talk Reuben into stepping down as leader. I know that isn't going to work and war will probably break out. And as I'm the person that people are going to fight over, I feel like I should go over and try and prevent it. I know Ruben better than the others, maybe I can talk something into him about letting me stay."

"You're asking yourself to get killed."

Stampy opened his mouth but no words came out. He shrugged. "I also want to see my squad again."

Nate scratch his antler in thought but nothing came to mind.

Stampy then spoke. "I may just be asking myself to get killed, but I have to go. The tube train just left to go pick up the Light Keepers from Opal. If I go now, I might just get to Thunder the same time as them if I jog there."

Nate looked at Stampy for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, but I'm coming with you."

"What?" Stampy sounded surprised.

"Stampy, you've just gotten out of the hospital building, you're probably not in the strongest condition to be walking, and if you come across a manticore or a werewolf pack, you're fucked. I'll come with you on the journey to protect you, then once we arrive, I'll walk back here." Nate explained.

Stampy sighed. "Fair enough." He started to walk ahead. "Alright, follow me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter was really long compared to the others, but there was just so much that needed to happen, and I kind of want to make some of the chapters longer because i really enjoy writing them.
> 
> Also fair warning: from this point onwards, this fic will become more violent and graphic.


	37. Not a Tragedy and Not and Accident Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been split in two because I've been sitting here for nearly five hours writing this chapter and I need a break (I prefer writing in one sitting) also the chapter would be way too long if I wrote the whole thing as one chapter.

The tube train pulled to a stop as it arrived at Thunder. Everyone looked up at Ian, waiting for him to give orders. The train doors opened and Ian looked outside, observing the surroundings. He turned back and scanned everyone. "Everyone ready?"

Matt and everyone else nodded.

"Alright, follow me and do not wander off on your own." Ian ordered before heading out the tube train and onto the grounds of Thunder. Anima and Jirard followed closely behind, followed by Jay, Charlie and Holly. Phil, Sparrow, Stephanie and Matt were the last out of the tube train. Matt eyed Thunder as his feet connected to the ground, which looked as if to be made out of sturdy, double glazed glass, which had tiny tubes inside them that had a strange coloured liquid flowing within them. 

 The city of Thunder itself look huge and complex. Thunder had a variety of different sized buildings, which all looked futuristic and slightly ominous. Small orb like objects hovered around the outskirts of the city but Matt was too far away to work out exactly what they were. Hills and trees surrounded the outskirts of the city, which was where Matt and the others were standing.

"This place looks complicated." Phil commented.

"Looks like you could get lost easily." Holly agreed. "Then again you could get lost in any of the GHOST cities if you didn't know them from the inside out."

"So, we need to find Dan, his squad and the other squad who want us to help them dethrone Ruben. Any idea where they might be?" Charlie questioned.

Shrugs and mutters ran out between the Gate and Opal Light Keepers. Stephanie whispered to Matt. "This was well planned."

"Ow!"

Matt and the others turned to see Phil rubbing his cheek. "Something just hit me on the cheek." He told them

Then, Matt felt something hit him on the back. It didn't hurt and it felt quite small. Turning around, Matt watched as a small, grey stone rolled onto the ground. Matt lent down to pick it up and examine it. "It's just a regular stone."

A stone, like the one that Matt was looking at, zoomed passed Matt's head and hit the floor, not hitting anyone.

"It seems like someone is throwing stones at us." Jay commented.

"Really? I thought stones had grown their own consciousness and started attacking us." Holly spoke sarcastically.

"I think werewolves would fly before stones became living beings." Anima snorted. "Besides, the person throwing the stones at us is right there." She added, pointing at a nearby tree.

Matt followed where Anima was pointing with his gaze to look at the tree. Someone was peering out from behind the tree. It was a female; she was average height, long dark hair and black eyes and her skin was as white as paper. She eyed the Gate and Opal Light Keepers, blinked a few times, before using her hand to beckon them to come to her. Everyone turned around to look at Ian for orders. Ian was silent, but he nodded and moved to walk in front of the group. Jirard, Anima, Jay, Holly and Charlie kept really close behind Ian while Matt, Stephanie, Phil and Sparrow followed from about a foot behind them. She beckoned quicker, probably to tell them to be faster. The group broke into a light jog until they reached the female stranger.

She folded her arms and gave the group at light smile. "Sorry about throwing stones at you guys. That's the only way I could get your attention without alerting Ruben and his close followers that he's about to be dethroned."

Matt shuffled his way through to get a better look at her. He then blinked rapidly with surprise. She was 2D. She looked as if she had been drawn out on paper. She had a black line as an outline and the only colour of her was her hair and eyes. Matt opened his mouth to question her but Phil gasped. "You're an animation!"

The animation giggled. "Wow, I'm surprised a young Light Keeper knows what I am. Anyway, I'm Jaiden, Dan asked me to wait here and bring you guys back with me. I would ask for your names but there's a lot of you and it'll probably be easier to introduce people once we get everyone together."

Jirard shrugged. "Makes sense. So, are you going to take us to where the other people are hanging out?"

Jaiden nodded. "Follow me." She turned around and began to lead the group through the hills and trees.

The group followed. Matt eyed the surroundings of Thunder as they walked. The outside of Thunder was pretty similar to Gate; fields, trees, grass but it was more craggy than Gate. The actual city of Thunder looked more cramped. Gate was spaced out and most buildings had their own space around them but here the buildings looked pack together and Matt even noticed tubes connecting some of the buildings together, like a hamster cage with all the tubes and expansion of different rooms. For such a big, full city, Matt was surprised that the air looked clean and unpolluted.

He heard Sparrow speak. "I've never heard of an animation before. I swear we've never been taught about them."

"I read about them in a book in a Light Keeper History lesson." Phil responded. "Animations are Passive Monsters that have helped out Light Keepers since the beginning. There used to be a lot of animations, about one billion if I recall correctly. But animations, along with shape shifters, are the only monsters that can be seen by Normals. Shape shifters though could easily avoid Normals by transforming by changing their shape into either a human or an animal of some sort. Animations can't do that, so Normals started seeing them and people started capturing them and donating them to science to get experimented on. A lot of animations were captured and killed in experiments."

"That's awful." Matt and Stephanie practically said in sync.

Phil nodded gently. "Animations are now critically endangered and Light Keepers do their best to protect them."

Matt fell silent. _It must be hard to be an animation- or any monster in general._ He thought of Nate; how difficult it must be to live killing and eating humans to survive and avoiding death from Light Keepers. _This world is kill or be killed for most monsters. Maybe it's also kill or be killed for Light Keepers too._

"Here we are!"

Jaiden's voice interrupted Matt from his thoughts. Looking ahead, Matt saw that a small camp had been set up. Tents stood tall and hammocks hung on trees, a dying campfire in the centre. Six people sat around the camp. Matt recognised Dan instantly but he wasn't familiar with the others. There was a male with black hair and stubble, two females, one with long, dyed pink hair and chilly blue eyes and the other one had long, brown hair with fringe that draped over a quarter of her face and green eyes. The last two were animations like Jaiden. Both of them were male but looked slightly different. One of them was completely white, only with black eyes and a curved shaped body. The other animation was quite jagged and had blonde hair and like Jaiden and the other animation, his eyes were black too. All of them looked incredibly unfed and scruffy, but all of heir heads raised, hope filling their eyes as Jaiden walked towards them with the Gate and Opal Light Keepers. Dan got up from where he was sitting gave a friendly smile. "Thank you so much for coming to help us. Alright, I think we should introduce everyone before anything else."

 

 

 

Nate ran on his hands and feet, jumping over undergrowth as the ran through the forest Stampy running beside him. Nate grumbled. "How much longer until we're there?"

Stampy panted. "Thunder should be just ahead."

Nate nodded and continued to sprint. It didn't take too long until Nate saw buildings up ahead. Nate skidded to a halt and looked ahead at the towering city. Stampy slowed down and stopped next to him looking at Thunder. Nate looked at him. "Sure you'll be okay?" He questioned.

Stampy hesitantly nodded. "I should be." Stampy eyed Nate and narrowed his eyes. "I appreciate you coming here with me, but you really shouldn't have. You look even worse."

"I'm fine." Nate lied. Nate wrinkled his nose. He felt like shit. His vision was getting blurry, his eyes felt sore and his throat was dry. "Any idea where your squad is?"

"I know where they are. They've set up a camp somewhere outside of Thunder. I should be able to find them pretty quickly."

Nate blinked slowly. He looked up at the sky silently- and squinted his eyes. He saw two clouds which seemed to stick out from the rest of them. One was a thunderbolt shape and another looked like a cat with stamp-like patterns. The cat was sitting next to the thunderbolt, which seemed to be calm. Nate's thoughts went back to the similar scene he saw a few days ago with the cat approaching the raging thunderbolt that relaxed as the cat-could approached it. Nate grumbled, trying to work out what it was trying to tell him.  _Tabby cat? Spotty cat?_ Nate's eyes widened. _Stampy. Stampy Cat's his full name, he's from Thunder, he was driven out by Ruben for a reason no one knows... That's it!_  "Stampy! I know why you were exiled."

Stampy tilted his head. "What? You do? Why?"

"You're the destined leader of Thunder." Nate told him.

Stampy's mouth hung open. "What?!"

"I saw a vision of a cat with stamp-like patterns approaching a thunderstorm and the storm dies down and becomes relaxed when the cat is near it. A stampy cat will calm the raging thunder. Stampy Cat, you will calm down the war going on in Thunder and will become the true leader. It would make sense why Ruben would want you out. He obviously saw this sign too, but wants to be leader himself, so he exiled you."

Stampy was as quiet as snow, absorbing what Nate had just said. After about a minute, all he could say was. "That makes a lot of sense."

"Alright. So go in there and claim your-" Nate froze mid sentence. A burning pain started to fill him. His breathing became faster and so did his heartbeat. He was gasping for breath as if he had just inhaled a mouthful of smoke and desperately calling for air. Nate collapsed onto his back and shut his eyes

"Nate?" Stampy question, horrified at the sudden change of Nate's health.

Nate hissed in pain and shook himself violently. His mind went blank, he couldn't remember where he was, or anything. The smell of human hit his nose. Nate gradually opened his eyes to see a human standing in front of him. His vision was blurred slightly and his surroundings were in a shade of red, expect for the human in front of him, who was highlighted in a odd blue. Nate's breathing turned back to normal and his heartbeat died down.

"Nate? Are you okay? Your eyes are really blood shot." The human in front of him spoke with worry.

Nate felt his mouth water and hunger rake at his stomach. _Eat. Eat. Eat._ Nate slowly rose to his feet and glared at the human hungrily. Panic fell over the human's face and he began to back away. Nate bared his fangs, letting out a snarl before stalking towards the human.

"N-Nate?"

A wicked grin grew across Nate's face. He licked his tongue over his lips at the thought of ripping the human apart and chewing them up into a screaming, bloody mess. Nate pounced at the human, The human fell over but quickly reacted by placing a hand over Nate's head and pushing him back. Nate snapped his jaws viciously. The human then kicked Nate in the stomach harshly, causing him to stumble backwards. The human rapidly scrambled to his feet and bolted away. Nate growled and chased after them, arms outstretched. He almost caught up with the human. Nate hissed, reaching his arms out to sink his claws into the human's body. Electricity suddenly blasted into Nate's body and bounced him backwards. Nate shook his head and stared at a wall which only showed for a second before disappearing. Nate grunted bitterly as he watched the human run further away, inside the safety of the force field.


	38. Not a Tragedy and Not and Accident Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took way too long to write so I apologise if some parts seem rushed and not as detailed. I really wanted to finish this chapter and move on since this chapter is so long. If there are any mistakes feel free to let me know because I've spent at least 10 hours on this chapter and I need sleep :P

"Something hit the force field over here."

Two Light Keepers wandered towards the force field which divided the city of Thunder and the forest full of Dangerous and Cannibalistic Monsters. The two Light Keepers stopped and one of them tapped the force field. A complicated wall of information materialised on the force field. The Light Keeper scanned the information before pointing at a small paragraph. "Alert; force field damaged. Cause of damage: Cannibalistic Monster impact - Wendigo."

He tapped the information and it disappeared. The second Light Keeper folded his arms. "Well, I guess we better check it out."

"Shouldn't we inform Ruben?" The other questioned. "I mean look at us. We're in no state to fight a wendigo."

"He would just tell us to go deal with it, he doesn't give a shit." He reached for a flare gun which was tucked into his belt. The flare gun had a rotatable circle that had tiny tubes with different colours in each one. He rotated the circle until the tube with the black colouring glowed slightly. He aimed the flare gun upwards and shot a onyx coloured flare into the air. "We'll go deal with it and if someone sees that flare, maybe they'll come and help us."

 

 

 

Matt sat in a circle with Steph, Phil, Sparrow, Charlie, Holly and Jay. Anima, Jirard and Ian stood around the small campsite, talking to the Thunder Light Keepers. Matt learned that the male with black hair and stubble was Jordan, the female with long brown hair was Stacy and the female with the pink dyed hair was Lizzie. The other two animations were called James and Dominic. James, Dominic and Jaiden were sitting tightly together in the corner, muttering about something which Matt couldn't make out what. He was staring thoughtfully up at the sky. Matt was snapped out of his thoughts by Ian clapping his hands together. "Alright. So where does Thunder's Main Building lie?"

"Right in the centre of the city." Lizzie answered. "But we won't be able to get there by tube train since each train has one of Ruben's followers in them and they'll get pretty suspicious if they see Light Keepers from Gate and Opal here."

"By walking we'll get to the main building in roughly twenty minutes depending on how busy the place is." Dominic added.

"Okay, we'll walk to the main building and what? What's the plan? Ruben won't step down just because we said 'please'." Stacy pointed out.

"The plan was to talk, only resort to violence if necessary. But by the way Ruben acts, sounds like it'll just go straight to violence." Anima predicted.

Jaiden nodded quietly and Jordan spoke up. "Yeah talking most likely won't work, but there's no harm in trying."

"We'll need a second team though." James spoke up. "Our friend Alex, he's an animation like us, was being stupid, confronted Ruben and got himself locked up."

Phil blinked rapidly. "Locked up? Leader's can't lock up Light Keepers or any monster that happily serves them."

Stacy shrugged. "Tell that to Ruben. Anyone who bitterly didn't accept him as leader, Ruben would see that as a threat and that person will be locked up in the Prison Building. Many people does as Ruben said out of fear. That's why no one said anything to the other cities."

"That's until Dan went 'fuck it' and told Lizzie and I to go to Harmony and Opal while he went to Gate." Jordan snorted.

"Alright, thanks for that Jordan." Dan muttered. He cleared his throat. "Okay. What if I lead some of us to go and attempt to talk to Ruben and Lizzie will go with the others to save those in the Prison Building?"

Ian nodded. "Sounds good."

Dan put his hand on his chin. "So; Ian, Jirard, Sparrow, Holly, Phil and Stacy come with me. Matt, Stephanie, Anima, Charlie, Jay and Jordan go with Lizzie. Jaiden, Dominic and James will stay here and communicate with us through earpieces and hack through security cameras so we won't get caught."

As soon as he said that, Jaiden chucked an earpiece to Dan and one to Lizzie, both caught the earpieces effortlessly. Lizzie nodded at Dan. "Take care."

"You too." Dan responded. "Let's go."

The group split up. Matt stuck close to Stephanie as he walked over to Lizzie. However, a strange black mist shot into the sky caught his attention. He eyed it. It took Matt a moment to realise that it was a flare. He turned to Lizzie. "Hey, a black flare has just been shot off."

Lizzie and some other Light Keepers turned their attention towards it. Lizzie bit her lip. "A black flare? That's means someone needs help with a Cannibalistic Monster."

Charlie stepped forward. "I could go check it out." He offered.

"I'll come with you for backup." Jirard proposed. Charlie nodded.

Ian blinked at them. "Alright but come back as soon as you can. If you can't find us, meet back up with Jaiden, Dominic and James.

Charlie and Jirard nodded strongly before quickly heading in the direction of the flare's whereabouts. Matt watched them get swallowed by the horizon before following Lizzie on their mission to save Alex and the others trapped in their own city.

 

 

 

Nate tore a large mouthful of human meat off of one of the Light Keepers that he had just slain. Two Light Keepers, obviously inexperienced, wandered into the forest and Nate easily killed both of them with a claw strike to the throat. Nate swallowed before digging his fangs back into the dead Light Keeper's stomach. He shook his head viciously to rip away a large mouthful and chewed it noisily and messily. Nate used his tongue to lick away the crimson stains around his mouth.  _You need more. More flesh. Don't waste them, you have two Light Keeper corpses all to yourself. Enjoy them._ Obeying his mind, Nate burrowed his nose and mouth back into the bloody wound he created, ready to tear another large portion of meat to blissfully chew on. A sudden shock hit Nate's head, causing him to flinched backwards and look around agitated. A shine caught his eye and he locked his gaze with a barrel of a sniper rifle. Looking up to its bearer, Nate's vision grew a blue outline as it connected with a human. Nate growled as he stared up at the Light Keeper wielding the sniper rifle. He was kneeling on a branch of a tree, eyeing Nate carefully through the sniper's scope. A second blue outline appeared in Nate's vision and he instantly smelled fire. Knowing danger was near, he jumped into the trees, hiding among the leaves and branches. The second Light Keeper emerged and Nate felt ice fill his veins as he recognised him as the Light Keeper that murdered Hunter. Nate gnarled and jumped down at the human, forgetting about the Light Keeper in the tree. His claws clashed with the Light Keeper's flamethrower that he was carrying. The Light Keeper swept his foot under Nate's knees, tripping him over but Nate quickly regained balanced and moved behind him. He kicked his leg up at the Light Keeper's head who blocked it and pushed Nate back. Nate felt another shock hit his head, stunning him for a second. He whipped his head up to where the Light Keeper with the sniper rifle was perching. He had to get rid of him if he wanted a chance against the flamethrower wielding Light Keeper.

Hopping up into the trees, Nate jumped weightlessly around the branches before coming face to face with the person hiding in the trees. Nate swiped at him but the responded by blocking with his weapon. His odd golden eyes grew. "Nate?"

Nate took this opportunity to biff the Light Keeper in the stomach with his foot. The Light Keeper lost his balanced and was shot off the branch he was perched on, hitting multiple thick branches before he hit the ground with a strong 'thud'.

 

 

 

Matt ran next to Stephanie as they followed behind the group that Lizzie was leading to free Alex and other Light Keepers being held in the Prison Building. With the help of Jaiden over the earpiece, they were successful on dodging areas where many of Ruben's closest followers were stained. Unfortunately it did delay the time it took for them to approach the Prison Building but they did get there eventually. With Lizzie in the lead, they carefully entered the Prison Building. She turned back to everyone. "Everyone have their weapon key chains at the ready?"

The group of people nodded. Jordan moved forward next to Lizzie and peered around the corner, scanning for people roaming about. He raised his hand to say that it was clear. Lizzie nodded and tapped her earpiece. "Jaiden, have you hacked the security cameras?"

A static reply from the earpiece. "Just done it now. You'll have five minutes until Thunder's technology crap kicks in and turns them back on. The control room that opens all the cell doors is the first two rights and the second left."

"Alright thanks. Let us know if something goes wrong." Lizzie responded.

A 'Mhmhn' was heard over the earpiece before it went quiet. Lizzie walked on, gesturing for everyone else to follow her. They took the directions that Jaiden told them over the earpiece but before they got around the second left, a heavy crash was heard in a corridor a little away from them. The group paused.

"The fuck?" Anima raised an eyebrow.

Jordan bit his lip nervously. "I'll go check it out." He scanned the Light Keepers quickly. "Matt, could you come with me?"

Matt felt surprised by the sudden spotlight, yet he agreed with a nod. He walked over to Jordan, ready to investigate.

Stephanie blinked at him. "Stay safe."

Matt smiled shyly back at her. "You too."

"We'll catch up, so don't wait for us." Jordan instructed and Lizzie nodded in understanding and continued to lead the group away. Jordan took the lead of the two of them and lightly jogged in the direction of the clang. Jordan spun his hand, causing a complex yellow and grey scythe to materialise in his grasp. Matt mimicked his action, summoning his green and black sword. Running down a corridor which split at the end, Matt skidded to a halt as a person ran around the corner, almost bumping into Jordan. However, Matt recognised the yellow cat hoodie and scruffy brown hair of Stampy

"Stampy?!" Jordan exclaimed, beating Matt to saying his name aloud.

Stampy looked back and forward between Jordan and Matt. "Jordan? Matt?"

Jordan gave Stampy a hug and patted him on the back. "Where on earth did you go?"

"Long story. I'll tell you later." Stampy snorted.

Matt tilted his head. "How did you get here and why are you here?"

"Oh right." Stampy pulled away. "I have a deal to settle with Ruben."

"Sorry?" Jordan questioned.

"There's a prophecy. A friend helped me work out what it meant; and it means 'A stampy cat will save the raging thunder storm'. Long story short, I'm the destined leader of Thunder and Ruben drove me out because he wanted to be leader."

Matt was astonished. Jordan placed a hand over his chin. "That... makes a lot of sense of why Ruben hates you."

"Yeah. So I jogged all the way here to bring out the truth and hopefully become the leader Thunder needs." Stampy finished.

Jordan nodded. He called back his scythe. "So that ruckus over here was you being clumsy I presume?"

Stampy nodded lightly.

"Okay, let's meet back up with Lizzie, Stampy come with us." Jordan walked ahead.

Matt went to follow him but Stampy grabbed his shoulder. "Something's not right with Nate."

Matt swallowed. "What?"

"Nate helped me make the journey over here, he was the friend I said that helped me work out the stampy cat sign-thing. As soon as we got here, he collapsed for a second and when he got up, he suddenly had a hunger for my flesh."

"Where is he?" Matt demanded.

"South-east of the Prison Building entrance."

Matt looked at the floor.  _Nate..._ Matt felt fire flue him and he gazed at Stampy. "Make an excuse for me. Say that I saw a flare and went to help, or something like that."

"Sure." Stampy gave a stern nod before following Jordan. Matt followed for a moment before separating himself so he could exit the building and exit the city of Thunder.  _Oh God, Nate please be okay..._

 

 

 

Nate leap down from the trees. His vision fell over the Light Keeper that he knocked out of the tree. The Light Keeper had scratches over his skin from the fall and one of his ankles looked crooked. Nate heard a click from behind and hastily flipped away from a blast of flames. He felt the embers graze the top of his skin and it unsettled him greatly. Nate analysed the smaller Light Keeper as he tried to pick himself but fell down helplessly when he attempt to stand on his crooked ankle. Nate cracked his neck before charging at the injured Light Keeper. Yet the flamethrower wielding Light Keeper dived in front of him, using his flamethrower to block Nate's claws. Getting annoyed, Nate snarled and let out a flurry of swipes and scratches, which were effortlessly blocked. The Light Keeper brought the flamethrower around and whacked Nate harshly around the head. Nate rolled slightly as he fell on the floor. He looked around in a frenzy, looking for something he could possibly use to fight back. His eyes then focused on the injured Light Keeper, who seemed to have gotten smaller, his skin shrinking into feathers, tiny wings sprouting out his shoulders and his nose and mouth stretching into a beak.  _A shape shifter?_ Nate shook his head.  _Focus. Kill the enemy._ Nate turned his head back to the Light Keeper with the flamethrower and froze. He had no time to react as cardinal and sun coloured flames consumed his body. Nate shrieked- but nothing happened.

A soft blush colour glowed over Nate's body, acting like a shield to the hungry blaze. He still felt the incredible heat but his body wasn't burning up or melting into a pool of corrupt skin. Nate blinked at a strange item around his neck with a small fire emblem on the end. The glowing shield seemed to be coming from the thing around his neck. His confused expression turned into a smirk. Nate burst through the flames, unharmed. He just had the time to see the dumbfounded expression on the Light Keeper's face before his claws raked the human's throat.

 

 

 

Matt bolted out of Thunder and into the forest. He was sweaty and panting, but he didn't care. He needed to find Nate. Matt hear a flapping of wings and watched as a blue bird flew through the trees, one of its talons twisted uncomfortably. Matt gazed at it, curious on how it got it's injury but he ignored it and pulled his attention back on looking for Nate.

Focusing on the nature around him, Matt heard a faint sound. It wasn't anything peaceful or natural- it was something dark, unsatisfying. The sound of something getting ripped open. Taking a deep breath and keeping one hand close to his weapon key chain, Matt slowly walked over to a nearby tree, placed his hands on the bark and peered over the corner, where the distressing noise was coming from. He gazed around. Then his eyes connected with a sight that made all the colour drain from his face and caused his body to freeze. His eyes widened and his breathing almost stopped.

Nate was hunched over a carcass, his claws, hands and face smeared with blood. His fangs were rapidly ripping out chunks of flesh from the carcass's throat and stomach. More horror overcame Matt as he recognised the corpse Nate was eating was Jirard. Vile cardinal liquid oozed out of multiple wounds, skin was ripped and torn and both eyes and skin were colourless.  _No..._ He then looked around for a bit.  _Where is Charlie? Did Nate kill him too?_

Nate brought his head up and made eye contact with Matt. Matt swallowed nervously as he gazed into Nate's blood lust filled eyes. The half wendigo ran his tongue across his stained lips before slowly stalking on all fours towards Matt. Matt felt fear choke his throat. He held his hands up in front of him in submission. "Nate. It's me, Matt."

Nate only snarled in response. He continued to approach Matt. With his fear turning to panic, Matt backed away. "Nate? What's gotten into you?!"

Nate replied by leaping, claws outstretched and teeth snapping. Matt twirled his key chain, summoning his sword and rapidly used it to guard Nate's attack. Nate's claws attached to the sword blade, trying to break through the block. Matt put his own hand on the sword blade to give it more support against Nate. He had a tussle with Nate before but he forgot how strong he was. Despite his skinny wendigo stature, he was pretty powerful. Nate leaned forward, putting more weight over the sword and making it harder for Matt to hold his guard. Matt blinked at Nate. "What's wrong with you? It's me, Matt! We're friends- boyfriends!" Nate paid no attention to Matt's pleas. He snapped his jaw several times, trying to latch onto Matt's throat. Matt picked up his leg and kick Nate in the stomach. He felt guilty as he had to kick Nate a second time, stronger too, in order to hit him away. Nate stumbled onto his back but it didn't take him long to prop himself onto his feet and jump at Matt again almost instantly. This time, Matt didn't get him guard up quick enough. He was pinned to the ground, Nate dug his fingernails into Matt's shoulders. Matt looked up, his eyes shaking as he stared at Nate. Nate's vision locked onto Matt for a few seconds. He then curled his lip back, revealing his corroded teeth. Matt watched as Nate placed his mouth over his throat, slowly burrowing his teeth into the skin.

However, Nate's teeth barely drew blood before he was suddenly blast backwards. His back hit a tree harshly and he collapsed on the ground. Matt swiftly sat himself up using his hands. Confusion filled his mind as he tried to work out what suddenly shot Nate backwards with such force and why it didn't affect him. Something moved to the left of Matt. He turned his head to see a person move in front of him. The person had black and purple clothing, heavy looking armour over their chest, arms and legs. They had multiple scabbards with weapons attached to a belt that was tightly wrapped around their waist. They also wore a black and purple wolf mask, covering their face, only dark eyes visible behind it and long, tangled raven coloured hair with purple highlights flowing from behind it, making Matt guess that the person standing in front of him was female. She held a strange weapon in her hand; it looked like a katana but the hilt seemed to be merged into the blade, almost like the handle of a wand.

Matt stared at her in awe and confusion. There was nothing on her clothing which told him that she was a Light Keeper of GHOST but she definitely was a Light Keeper; a very experienced one too. Maybe she was a rogue from GHOST? Or a lone Light Keeper who didn't know about the GHOST cities?

He snapped his head back to look at Nate as he gently rose to his feet. The pain he endured from hitting the tree at that force was visible. He was wobbly on his feet, teeth gritted and eyes squinted. Nate hissed as he made eye contact with the stranger, noticing the new threat in front of him. Nate lowered himself onto his hands and feet, a low grumble forming in his throat, before pouncing at her. The stranger gave a nimble swish of the katana in her hand. A spiral of magic shot out of katana's blade and hit the ground under Nate. A dark purple ring formed on the ground, causing Nate fall on top of it with sudden speed. Nate tried to pick himself up however the force being emitted from the purple circle kept him strongly pinned to the earth. Matt eyed the magic with admiration.  _Some sort of gravity manipulation magic?_   He wondered.

The stranger calmly walked up to Nate, who was still struggling under the magic's strength, eyeing him carefully. He lashed his claws out to try and harm her but failed miserably. She stopped in front of him, silently watching him struggle. Then, the stranger raised her katana aiming the sword at the back of Nate's neck. Matt opened his mouth to tell the stranger to stop but she swiped to sword before he could speak. The blade did not cut through the skin, it didn't even look like it hit his neck, it just gently brushed the top of it. Despite that, Nate suddenly dropped all attempts of fighting back. Instead he started breathing heavily and coughing. Matt turned his focus back to the stranger, who was examining the tip of her katana, where a small black cockroach with a red underbelly was impaled at the end. Matt's eyes widened. "A grim bug." He spoke barely in a whisper.

The stranger picked the grim bug off the end of her katana and crushed it in her hand, ensuring that it was dead. Matt heard a groan from Nate and turned his attention back to him. Nate sleepily stumbled onto his feet, placing a hand over the back of his neck and rubbing it. He grumbled something in wendigo before laying his eyes on the scene before him. His eyes were no longer bloodshot and hungry and he seemed to have no idea about what just happened. Matt watched as his skin turned as pale as death, his eyes widening and pupils shrinking. The hand on the back of his neck moved over his mouth. His terrified gaze then met with Matt's, causing more panic to spread across his face. Before Matt could say anything, Nate pivoted and bolted away in a heartbeat. Matt scrambled to his feet, ready to chase after him but the stranger moved her katana to block him from pursing Nate. "He'll be okay. He just needs some time alone." She reassured him. Her voice was gruff but soothing, an edge of confidence spiking her tone.

Matt blinked rapidly. "But-"

"He will be fine." She promised. "I'll be keeping an eye on him. In the meantime, you should go back to Thunder and report what happened.

Matt opened his mouth to retaliate but nothing came out. He hung his head but he brought it back up when the stranger placed a hand on his shoulder. "Listen to me and take this seriously. This was not a tragedy and this was not a accident. This is what happens when you place your fate in fools, you become smothered in lament. You're playing the part of allies claiming peace as your only goal, but once the fight for power starts, they'll just eat each other whole. Their iron gloves will point fingers, waging war and blame. And man-kind will wilt in pain because of it. In the end, there'll be no rest and there'll be no love. There especially won't be a hero in the end who will rise above. When it ends, all the good will do is crawl. The shining light will sink in darkness and victory will be for hate incarnate. Misery and pain will be for all when _it_ falls."

Matt pulled a puzzled face. "What?"

She didn't say anything else. She just placed the katana in one of the many scabbards she had attached to her belt, before walking off as if nothing ever happened.


	39. Too Late Too Soon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay a few things;  
> 1) I had another Septiplier and Natepat fic called 'Heroes Never Die' but I've deleted it. The reason for this is that I didn't think it was my best work and I lost all excitement on it and I didn't like the idea too much and there are other ideas I have that I want to do more which are kind of similar. I apologise if you read it and liked it so far, I just didn't feel like the best I could do.
> 
> 2) I apologise for how long of a gap was between this chapter coming out. I have so much school work since I'm coming up to GCSEs and I've had really bad writer's block. Since this chapter is mainly plot and very very long, I didn't feel like writing for a while but most of it's gone now, so hopefully expect this fic to be done by end of March/beginning of April.
> 
> 3) And yes, you read the chapter number correctly '39 of 43'. They're only four chapter left after this, so... feel free to panic.

Matt walked through the force field and entered Thunder grounds. He turned his head around to stare back into the forest, thinking about the stranger that had saved him. She seemed trustworthy enough but that was only one encounter with her. She could be anyone; or anything. For now, Matt hoped she kept her promise about keeping an eye on Nate. Matt turned back around and he walked back towards the city of Thunder. Climbing over the hilly landscape, he noticed a black haired figure, with his arms folded, eyeing Matt as he came into view. Matt blinked, recognising Jay.

Jay tilted his head. "You okay? Lizzie told me to go with you, in case you needed back up."

Matt nodded. "Yeah. I'm alright."

"She also said me if I saw you, we should go to the Main Building and meet up with Dan's group and she'll catch up."

Matt nodded. The two walked into the direction of Thunder's Main Building. "Stampy said you saw a flare and went off to help. Was everything okay?" Jay questioned.

Matt swallowed. "Well... Remember the flare Jirard and Charlie went to investigate?"

Jay nodded.

"Well, it was them. A wendigo-" Matt took a deep breath. _He's Nate's brother. He deserves to know._  "Nate. Nate attacked them."

Jay's eyed widened. "What?"

"I have no idea where Charlie's gone but Jirard is dead. Nate killed him." Matt confessed. "I would of gotten killed myself but a stranger saved my life and scared him off."

Jay looked dumbfounded. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times, trying to think of the right words to say. He finally spoke after a few seconds. "How do you know what Nate looks like?"

"We became really good friends when he came over to Gate." Matt explained.

"Is he fully transformed?"

Matt shook his head. Jay gave a light sigh of relief. "So there's still a chance to purify him."

Matt sympathised with the younger Sharp brother. "I don't know how difficult it is, knowing your sibling is a Cannibalistic Monster, but I'm sure Nate wouldn't want you to worry. He'd want you to be strong."

Jay snorted wistfully. "Nate never liked me. Even when I tried to be nice to him, he resented me. He hated my mother as well, his stepmother. I can't really blame him though. I've heard from dad that he had a strong bond with his mother and was distraught after hearing she died. I guess he doesn't want to let her go and replace her and accept a new mother and brother. Heck Nate hated me so much that one time he flared up."

"What?" Matt questioned, quirking an eyebrow at the statement that came out of nowhere.

"He flared up. We got into an argument about family about a month before he went off to Gate, he got extremely pissed and suddenly blue flames exploded over him. They weren't deadly warm but they had a slight heat to them."

"Do you know why?"

Jay shook his head gently. "Not really. Anyway, we're getting off track, we should hurry to the Main Building."

"Right." Matt agreed. His mind was still twirling around.  _Nate flared up once. He got extremely pissed and suddenly blue flames exploded over him._   _I better keep an eye on Nate in case something like that happens._ He blinked pitifully. He was learning more about Nate's human life without meaning to. Matt and Jay lightly jogged in the direction of the main building. It wasn't long before they heard yells and arguments. Picking up their pace, the two Light Keepers ran towards the building that stood powerfully in the centre of Thunder. Bursting into the doors, Matt's eyes lay on Dan's group, all with their weapons in hand, who were facing another group of Light Keepers, all wearing Thunder uniform, standing defensively yet shakily in front of Ruben, who were also wielding weapons. Ruben eyed the two bitterly as Matt and Jay ran up to Dan's group. Matt summoned his sword and watched as Jay summoned a chain scythe. The two of them ran and stopped next to Ian. Ian eyed Matt with puzzlement but Matt spoke before Ian could question him. "Long story short, some stuff happen and we've been sent here to give you guys extra back up. Lizzie should be here any minute."

Ian nodded in understanding.

Ruben waved his arms around dramatically. "There are more of you? Fucking hell, why can't you understand that I'm Thunder's leader and accept it? There's no point with this stupid uprising."

"You're stupid." Holly muttered.

"You weren't named the successor." Stacy informed him. "Just because you're a five star Light Keeper doesn't automatically make you leader."

"I decided to take the role of leader since no one else took the role. All of you were hopelessly waiting for a sign to say who will succeed as the next leader so I stepped up. And I'm not sure about you guys, but I haven't seen any signs or prophecies saying who the next leader _should_ be."

"I've seen a prophecy."

Everyone turned around and Matt's eyes widened as Stampy, with Lizzie's group right behind him. Dan blinked rapidly. "Stampy?"

"Stampy!" Ruben snapped. "What are you doing here? Turning yourself in?"

Stampy pushed his way into the front of the group, eyeing Ruben strongly. "In a way. I'm turning myself in as Thunder's new leader."

Ruben looked taken aback. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"A stampy cat will save the raging thunder storm."

Silence fell across everyone. It was so quiet, you could hear the flapping of a fairy's wings. Ruben went deathly pale. "How did you-"

"I'm the destined leader of Thunder. You saw this prophecy but wanted the role as leader for yourself, so you banished me from Thunder so that I couldn't take my place."

The Light Keepers standing next to Ruben slowly turned to face him in disbelief, who was at a lost for words. All of them tutted in anger and walked over to stand next to Stampy, twirling their weapons back into their key chains. Matt mimicked them, spinning his sword back into its key chain. Everyone else did the same action.

"Hey, how dare you? I'm your leader, you don't just turn against me like that!" Ruben growled.

The Thunder Light Keeper's ignored him. Stampy kept a straight yet friendly face. "Ruben, you can still be a Light Keeper of Thunder. Just be civil, step down, and being the Five Star Light Keeper you are, you can help with rebuilding Thunder."

Ruben snorted. "Rebuild Thunder? With you as leader? I'd rather go rogue."

"Then go rogue." Stampy retaliated.

Ruben clenched his hands into fists. He walked towards the door, turning around glaring at Stampy. He opened his mouth but almost instantly closed it before walking out the building. Everyone stared at the doors soundlessly. Stacy broke the silence. "Well, that was a thing."

"A lot easier than I expected." Holly agreed.

"I'm honestly quite disappointed." Anima laughed. "I was ready to fight some bastards."

Stampy walked forward. Matt eyed him as the new Thunder leader opened a chest that was behind the leader's chair and opened it, savaging inside it.

"What's he doing?" Matt wondered aloud.

"Probably looking through things that Ruben was hording for himself." Dan guessed. He watched Dan place a finger over his ear piece. "Alright Jaiden, we've done it. Stampy has-"

Matt squinted as he heard loud cheers erupt from the other side of the ear piece. Dan pulled the ear piece out. After the noise died down he yelled into it. "Thank you for the destroyed ear."

"Is that Jaiden, James and Dominic?" Matt looked over as an animation with a circular head, blue square body and stick man arms and legs. Matt presumed he was Alex, the animation Lizzie's group went to save. "Can I talk to them?"

Dan nodded. "I'm passing over to Alex Clark." He gave the ear piece to the animation and watched as he exploded into conversation. Matt bit his lip, just realising how many people he knew that were called Alex.

"Well well, what has Ruben been hiding in here?"

Matt turned to look over to Stampy, who stood up from rummaging through the chest behind the leader's chair. Matt's eyes widened as he saw Stampy holding a sun and taffy coloured flower, which looked freshly bloomed.

"A Purity Flower!" Holly exclaimed. 

Stampy analysed the flower. He walked over to Ian and held it out in front of him. "You'll need this if you're going to cure Nate."

Ian took it delicately. "Are you sure you don't want this yourself? In case something happens to one of your Thunder Light Keepers?"

Stampy politely shook his head. "At the moment I need to worry about fixing up Thunder. Consider it as a thank you for helping us."

Ian was silent for a second before nodding in thanks. Matt looked down at his feet. _We've found the Purity Flower needed to cure Nate; but now we don't know where Nate's gone._

"Alright, everyone head to the tube train. We'll catch up in a moment, we'll just make sure everyone here is okay." Ian instructed.

Everyone started moving in the direction of the tube train. Matt was snapped out of his thoughts by Stephanie placing a hand on his shoulder. They eyed each other for a second before both walking off to the tube train.  

 

 

_"It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to his evil way. But those with an evil heart seem to have a talent for destroying anything beautiful which is about to bloom. So keep that in mind, Nathan Sharp. Playing innocent won't save you next time."_

 

 

Matt, Stephanie, Phil, Sparrow, Anima and Ian stepped off the tube train and onto the grounds of Gate. Matt tilted his head as he looked around Gate. It looked quite barren after going to Thunder.

Anima pulled out her phone to quickly check the time. "16:20. No point in you guys going back to lessons with five minutes remaining. You guys must be starving since you missed out lunch. Go to the dinning hall or wait for your squadmates."

The teenagers nodded. Matt and Stephanie waved goodbye to Sparrow and Phil as they walked away to wait for their squadmates. Matt and Stephanie decided to walk to the dinning hall since it wasn't too far. They strolled down the clean stone pathway. Matt hung his head as they walked.

Stephanie noticed as blinked with confusion. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just tired, stressed and I can't believe Jirard's dead." Matt told her.

Stephanie nodded. "And Charlie's gone missing. But on the bright side, we have the Purity Flower to cure Nate now."

"Yeah." Matt mumbled.

They continued to walk down the pathway and reached the dinning hall. They entered the hall, grabbed some food and sat down at one of the many tables. The bell rung, signalling that the lesson was over and the dinner had started. Light Keepers started to fill the room. Jason and Jack emerged from the crowed. They walked over to Stephanie and Matt. Jack practically jumped onto the seat. "How did it go?"

"A lot better than expected. Stampy barged in and stood up to Ruben and got the entirety of Thunder on his side. Ruben got annoyed and pretty much exiled himself." Stephanie summarised.

"Good riddance to him." Jason muttered before taking a sip of his drink.

"But at the same time, Jirard got killed and Charlie, he's a Light Keeper from Opal, went missing." Stephanie added

Jack bit his lip. "Jirard was killed? He was such a good Light Keeper though- almost a Five Star. That's kind of hard to believe."

"It was really surprising." Matt eyed them curiously. "Where's Mark?"

"I'm right here!" Mark announced himself, slamming his hands on the table, making everyone flinched with surprised.

"Jesus fucking Christ, where did you come from?" Jack bellowed.

"I've got some great news." Mark ignored Jack's yell. He scattered a pile of papers he was holding across the table in front of him. Matt read the title that was printed on all the sheets.  _Three Star Ranked Light Keeper Trail._

"Wooo!" Jack threw is arms in the air, the bad news instantly forgotten about. "Already?!"

"Yep. AJ called me to his office after lesson and gave me these. This is all the information and the things we have to do in order to pass the Trail and be promoted to Three Star Ranked Light Keepers." Mark looked over the papers. "We have to survive three days in Obscurité Forest, set up a camp and cast a protective force field spell around it, collect some specific resources which are on that piece of paper there-" He waved at a different sheet of paper. "- find any monster hideout and kill a monster that has an inhumane feature such as a tail, wings or horns and bring the feature back to show as proof of slaying them."

Stephanie clapped her hands. "I can't believe it. We can become Three Star Light Keepers!"

"If we pass the Trial." Jason reminded her.

"Don't be such a downer Jason." Mark snorted.

Matt blinked. "When is it?"

"Tomorrow, eight in the morning AJ's going to give us the run down of things and then we just head out to Obscurité Forest and we do our thing." Mark answered.

Jack choked on his drink. "Tomorrow? That's barely enough time to prepare!"

"It's to be realistic. You're not going to be completely prepare for every fight. I heard when you do your Trial to graduate from Three Star to Four Star, you're given only six hours before being thrown into it. And Four Star to Five Star, you're thrown right into the Trail, no time at all to comprehend what just happened." Jason explained.

"I guess that makes sense." Jack shrugged.

"Matt are you okay? You've been awfully quiet." Stephanie suddenly brought up.

Matt pricked up to see the rest of the squad eyeing him worriedly. He nodded gently. "Yeah, I'm okay." He was listening but his mind was wandering elsewhere. His thoughts kept moving to think about Jirard's corpse, Nate, the fact that they found a Purity Flower but now Nate has run to God know's where. He got up from his seat. "I'm going to turn in early. I'm tried after today."

The entire squad didn't look fully convinced, but Mark nodded. "Alright, just make sure your ready by eight and we'll meet up outside the dormitories and head out."

Matt nodded silently before walking away, concerned eyes following him as he left. He walked out of the dining hall and took the tube train to the dormitories.

Matt entered his room and closed his door. He quietly slumped on his bed and eyed the ceiling. He felt like bursting into tears. They found it. They found the Purity Flower needed to cure Nate; but now Nate was gone. He ran, traumatised by his actions. Matt remembered the fear in Nate's eyes as he snapped back into reality. Terrified that he had murder Jirard and that he almost killed Matt. Matt shivered. He knew he was born with nine lives and that he still has seven of them, but he's unsure if he would revive if he was eaten alive. He still didn't understand his nine live ability that much anyway. Matt wiped his teary eyes.  _Nate you're not a monster. That wasn't you. You were under the influence of a grim bug. It wasn't you._ He thought. He knew Nate couldn't hear him, but part of him hoped for some random telepathy magic to kick in and let Nate hear his cries.

Matt's thoughts were interrupted by a faint green light visible in one of his drawers. Matt blinked. Curious, he rose from his bed, walked over to the glowing drawer and opened it. The golden amulet that AJ gave him was emitting a green light. Matt picked it up and examined it. He analysed the drawer and inside, he saw something that wasn't there before. A picture. Matt picked it up in his other hand and eyed it. It had six people in it, three males and two females, all six of them wearing the Gate uniform and all looked in their mid twenties. Matt recognised AJ, who was standing up straight with his hands behind his back, and Krism, who was had her arms folded and her stance slanted to one side. The other four though he was unsure. One of the males looked identical to AJ, just slightly smaller and paler skin. He was in the same position as AJ, expect his hands were in front of him intertwined with each other. The third male was standing proudly with his hands on his hips, tidy brown hair on his head and hazel eyes. One of the females had long, messy black hair with a single purple highlight. She had her arms gently wrapped around Krism's neck. The final female was next to the brown haired male, holding his hand. She had long hair tied into a ponytail and dark eyes. All of them looked happy. Matt flipped the picture over to look at the back. He blinked with interest as he saw writing on the back.

_Squad AJ,_

_Congratulations_   _to AJ Pinkerton, Enis Pinkerton, Krism Pro, Michelle "Minx" Smith, Samantha Smith and Barry Patrick for completing all training possible for Light Keepers. You have all reached the rank of Five Star._

_Use your knowledge and responsibilities well,_

_\- Current leader of Gate, Oscar Jeffery_

Matt turned the picture back around to stare at it. After a bit he gently placed it back into the drawer. He was going to place the amulet back too, but it still had it's glow. "How do I turn this off?" he muttered to himself.

The peridot glow suddenly expanded, engulfing the room. Matt watched in astonishment as he watched his room change into a house with a large living room that had two sofas, and a television built into the wall. The room linked to a kitchen by an archway, which was were Matt found himself standing. On the living room floor was a boy, who looked roughly twelve, drawing on a piece of paper. Matt quietly walked over to the boy. He didn't seem to acknowledge Matt being next to him, making Matt think that he wasn't visible in this place. A knock resonated throughout the house. The boy's head snapped up. He got up from the floor and began to walk over to the door.

"I'll get it Matt." A feminine voice echoed in the house.

Matt blinked. _Matt? Is this me when I was younger? Is this one of my memories that were sealed away?_

Matt continued to observe what was happening. Younger Matt stopped where he was and watched as a female strolled over to the door. Matt recognised her as the woman in the picture, Michelle. Michelle opened the door to see a young boy with ebony hair, almost black eyes and glasses balancing on his nose standing there, holding a book in his arms. Matt instantly identified him as a younger Nate. Matt found himself smiling to himself. This was the first time he has seen Nate as a human. It was odd seeing him without his antlers, pale and broken skin, messy black hair and his skinny stature. As a human, Nate's skin was a light cream colour and he was quite broad shouldered. Nate smiled nervously, a dimple decorated each side of his face as he smiled. "Hi, does Matthew Patrick live here?"

Michelle looked back. "Matt you have a visitor."

Matt noticed his younger self blush lightly, before walking over to the door. Michelle walked out of the way to let them talk. Young Matt smiled at the sight of Nate. "Hello Nate are you okay?"

Young Nate shrugged. "Yeah, I'm alright." Nate handed the book to Matt. "You left this in the hospital building."

"Thank you." Young Matt took the book gratefully. He blinked. "Do you want to come in?"

Nate shook his head. "Sorry I can't. I need to get back to help Amanda with stuff."

"Oh okay." Young Matt coughed, changing the subject. "Are you going to join us in training soon? I mean, you've been doing healing herb training for a few months now. Surely you would be moved to Light Keeper training, even with your delayed sight."

"I'm not sure. Part of me thinks that AJ doesn't want me to do Light Keeper stuff." Nate admitted.

Matt cocked his head. "What makes you say that?"

Young Nate silently rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "No particular reason, I'm just getting impatient and coming up with stupid scenarios."

Young Matt smiled brightly. "Well don't worry. You'll join training soon enough!"

"I wish I had your optimism." Nate mumbled. "I need to go, You'll stop by the hospital building tomorrow, right?"

"Of course! See you tomorrow." Matt waved as he watched Nate turn around and walk away. Nate gave a light smile before walking out of sight. Matt closed the door. He was surprised by an arm wrapping around his head and another ruffling his hair. "Aw does my little nephew have a crush?"

"Ugh, let go! Auntie Minx let go!" Young Matt squirmed out from under her grip, folded his arms and pouted. "What makes you think I have a crush on Nate?"

Minx laughed. "I'm not dumb Matt. I know these things; I have a wife for crying out loud. I also know you have a crush on Nate because you talk about him every chance you get."

Matt chuckled as he watched his younger self blush. "Well, maybe I do like him a little bit."

Minx ruffled young Matt's hair again. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." 

Young Matt's face beamed as he gazed at Minx. Matt watched the scene in front of him with a warm smile. The sight slowly disintegrated until Matt found himself back in his room. The amulet in his hand had stopped glowing too. Matt placed the amulet in the drawer and shut it. He flopped backwards on his bed. "Auntie Minx." He whispered. He had an Aunt. He really did have family ties to Light Keepers. With a gently smile on his face, Matt closed his eyes and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE: Ok I've left this at the end of the chapter because this is quite lengthy. I'm thinking about a RWBY Youtuber crossover fic (with Natepat and Septiplier of course and maybe others) with the main plot and AU of RWBY but a few things different so that ships can happen.  
> I had two ideas for characters but after reading a comment by BorderlessEmpire, I think they had better ideas on which youtubers would fit what RWBY characters. So I've changed the main characters and I have a new idea for team JNPR too. I will reveal those two teams but the other characters I'm going to keep secret until they're revealed. I've decided to settle with this too since I feel like hearing too many peoples opinions will give me too many good ideas and I wouldn't know which one to settle on, I'm really sorry for many of you who didn't get a say... Here it is;
> 
> Ruby = Nate (Natewantstobattle), Weiss = Matt (Game Theory), Blake = Mark (Markiplier), Yang = Jack (Jacksepticeye). Jaune = Austin (Peanutbuttergamer), Nora = James (Caddicarus), Pyrrah = Jared (Projared), Ren = Ian (BrutalMoose)  
> I'm going to actually write the first chapter for this and it should be done by either tonight or tomorrow (English time) since I love RWBY and I feel like this will be fun to write. I'm going to try an aim for this to update once a week, so keep an eye out. :)


	40. A Game that Wasn't Fair

A heavy downpour of rain exploded from the sky. The droplets fell harshly on Nate's head, waking him up. He stirred gently, opening one eye. He was curled up in a tight ball under a tree and hidden behind a tangled blackthorn bush. Nate opened his other eye, squinting as the water hit his face. He blinked quietly, looking up at the grey cloud that loomed with intimidation. He wasn't too bothered by it, as wendigos were immune to the cold, but that didn't mean he liked the rain. It felt uncomfortable on his rough skin and it made his senses useless.

Nate sighed, resting his head on his arms like a dog resting its head on its paws. He didn't want to get up, he didn't want to anything. He didn't know what to do.

He didn't know what he was.

Sure, the mostly likely word people would use to describe him was 'monster'. Obvious but true. He was a wendigo, a Cannibalistic Monster. But he had desperately tried to fall back to his human life: trying to remember is old life, old family, old friends. He even agreed with Matt saying he would try a Purity Flower to see if it will change him back.

Nate's heart fell into a dark abyss. Matt. His friend, his crush- his boyfriend. He had almost murdered his boyfriend. Nate shook his head viciously, trying to remove the memories of what happened. Truth be told, he wasn't too sure what happened. He remembered walking with Stampy to Thunder, his head feeling groggy before he fainted. Did he faint? It felt like it, but that doesn't explain why what happened next happened. When he felt consciousness overtake him, he was met with a horrendous sight. A half eaten corpse in front of him and a quivering Matt. He knew from the look of Matt's face that it was his fault. _My wendigo instincts must have taken over. I killed that Light Keeper and I almost took Matt's life._  After Nate saw what he did, he fucking booked it. Ran for what felt like hours and collapsed where he was now and pathetically wept until he fell asleep. He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep for, but it was definitely the next day. Nate closed his eyes. He just wanted to be left alone with his own thoughts of disappointment.

 

 

 

"Great weather for a Light Keeper Trial huh?" Jack commented sarcastically.

Matt watched as rain smashed down from the crow coloured clouds. "Yes. It's absolutely wonderful."

Matt, Jack, Stephanie and Jason were all standing outside the dormitories, under the roof that sheltered the outside of the building. The sound of rain hammering of the roof tiles. The squad was waiting for Mark, who had just gone to the main building to get their supplies for the Trial. All five of them were in their Gate uniform; which was a dark green shirt with a black coat that had 'Gate' imprinted on the back, dark jeans and hazel boots. They had met out here half an hour and talked and out roles. Mark would be in charge of decision making, since he was the squad leader. Jack would be in charge of hunting for food, Stephanie would be in charge of medicine and medical equipment. Jason would be in charge of cooking and rationing. And Matt would be in charge of setting up camp. They had already planned out what to do first too. They agreed to find a place to set up camp, get comfortable with their surroundings, have something to eat, then see what goes on from there.

Jack clapped his hands. "Oh! I just remembered a really cool thing I learned in a Cannibalistic Monster class we had yesterday when you guys were at the Thunder mission. Apparently the older a wendigo gets, the worse it's sight becomes. As a wendigo gets older it's sight becomes more based on movement so if you stand still, they won't be able to see you."

Stephanie snorted. "So you're saying if we're in a life or death situation with a wendigo we should play a game of sleeping manticores with it?"

Jason shrugged. "It's better than trying to outrun a wendigo."

A tube train sped its way over to them and parked in front of the dormitories. The doors of the train swung open and Mark stood their, a large supply bag in his grasp. "Hello guys! Get out the rain and let's go!"

The squad rushed quickly into the tube train, trying to avoid getting soaked. The doors closed behind them and the train started moving,

"Alright, so you're Squad Mark Fischbach?" A small creature, just under the height of Matt's knee, strolled over to them. It was a maroon coloured thing with pointed ears, curved horns, a bald head, miniature wings and long tail which was about the same length as the creatures body. It's hands and feet had three fingers and toes on each. Matt blinked recognising it as an imp; a Neutral Monster. It was holding a piece of paper in one hand and a pen it the other.

Mark nodded. "Yes we are."

The imp noted something down on the paper. "You guys are going for the Three Star Ranked Light Keeper Trial. That's three days and three nights in Obscurité Forest and in order to pass you need collect the resources stated on the paper you got yesterday and bring back a inhumane piece of a monster."

"That's right." Mark confirmed.

The imp flicked its tail. "Take a seat, it will be a half hour journey to Obscurité Forest. We will be stopping at a hidden stop, so you will have to walk through a Normal town in order to get there. While we're travelling there, I would go through the supply bag."

Mark nodded. The imp waddled off. The squad sat down on the seats and Mark zipped open the supply bag and rummaged his hands through it. "Let's see here." He pulled out a handful of equipment. "So we have hammocks, sleeping bags, force fielding making stuff, smaller bags for each of us, an empty water bottle each, a torch each and a flare gun each." Mark shared the smaller bags, water bottles, torches and flare gun between everyone. Matt packed his water bottle and torch in his bag and hoisted it over his back. He analysed the flare gun; a dial of different colours near the trigger. He twisted it, which made the coloured bulb at the top of the flare gun change colour.

"Each coloured flare means something different." Jason told him. He gave a piece of paper to Matt. Matt took it and scanned it, Stephanie peered over his shoulder to read it too.

Flare gun colour meanings:

Red = Area is unsafe. Blue = Area is safe. Yellow = Evacuate/Abort mission. Green = Medical help needed. Purple = Need help with a Dangerous Monster. Black = Need help with a Cannibalistic Monster. 

"And for Trials we get a special orange flare." Jack said, picking up tubes with an orange tint to them. "If we fire off an orange flare, it means we're in great trouble and need help urgently. The nearest Light Keepers from any city will come and help us. But if we do fire the orange flare, that means we also forfeit the Trial."

"So I guess we shouldn't fire it unless we're about to die." Stephanie commented.

"Pretty much, yeah." Jack shrugged.

Mark clapped his hands enthusiastically. "Alright squad, we can do this. We will survive three days in Obscurité Forest, gather the resources we're required to and bring back an inhumane monster piece. We will become Three Star Ranked Light Keepers!"

 

 

 

Nate, with his head hung, strolled through the woods, his bare feet kicking up sticks and small stones. He had finally gotten up from his sorrow filled nap and convinced himself to take a walk. He didn't feel too hungry, probbaly because of the amount he ate yesterday. The weather had cleared up but the sky was still a grey void. He sighed heavily, adjusting his glasses. _Matt must hate me after what I did. Heck, I don't blame him, I despise myself._  Nate continued to wander further into the darkness of the forest. He didn't know where he should go. He felt farther from his goal to find his humanity. He didn't know what path he will be shown. He didn't know what path to take; the path of a monster or the path of a human.

Nate's feet hit wet grass and he looked beyond him to see a river, glistening water flowing in a single direction. Nate lied down on his stomach, resting his head on his chapped hands. His vision locked with his reflection, which accurately mirrored his lament back to him. Nate eyed it for a good few minutes before dipping his mouth into the chilli waves, silently lapping up the water.

"You're a very interesting wendigo."

Nate snapped his muzzle up and looked around. His eyes eventually met with a figure sitting on a tree branch on the other side of the river. Nate bared his teeth. "Who's there?"

"Oh, you can speak human as well? That's unusual." The voice contemplated.

"Yeah I get that a lot." Nate snarled. Getting up onto his feet, he quirked an eyebrow as the stranger's scent hit his nose. "You're a human."

"Great observation."

"What do you want?"

The person jumped down from the tree branch, landing next to Nate. It was a male; his hair was very long, going as low as his waist. It was jet black with one large scarlet stripe the right of his hair. His eyes were an azure blue and his skin was visibly pale. He rubbed his hands together. "I just saw you looking all depressed and shit and got curious. It's not everyday that you see a wendigo with human emotions."

Nate opened his mouth but instead of words, a sigh escaped him. "I don't know if those human emotions are a good thing or a bad thing."

He tilted his head. "Care to explain?"

Nate struggled to form a sentence. "Well-I... It-It's complicated."

The human blinked in understanding. "Maybe talking about it will help. Even if your just rambling, it may help get it off your chest."

Nate hesitated. "I... I don't think I want to have those human emotions anymore. I don't want to half human anymore."

"Well, just wait six months and your transformation-"

"It's almost been six years!" Nate cut him off with a hiss. He began pacing around restlessly. "Six years and I haven't fully changed. I don't understand why. I am tired of living with a hand in each world. I just want to be one or the other; not an amalgamation of the two!" Nate felt tears pool in is eyes as he ranted, realising how truthful he was being with a stranger. Nate took a deep breath. "I want to be a pure wendigo."

"Why a pure wendigo?" The man questioned. "Why would you want to be a horrifying, blood hungry monster over an innocent, chipper human?"

"Because it's what I'm suppose to be. I don't know why I'm still in transformation; I should have become a pure wendigo years ago. Something in me is putting off the path I chose. I chose to eat that human arm, I chose to consume it and become a Cannibalistic Monster and yet I'm trying to turn back to my human life that I chose to abandon; just because I have a fucking crush on a human!" Nate snatched his glasses off his face and cupped his hand over his eyes. "If I was a wendigo, I would at least forget all my human memories and not give a shit about anything. I would no longer have to care about hurting anyone."

He felt the stranger place an arm around his shoulders. "I have no idea what I've walked into but I might be able to help." Nate blinked up at him. "I have a friend who's pretty damn smart. He might know what's stopping you from becoming a pure wendigo. We came over here to meet someone but we've made a quick pit stop. You can come with me and see if you can work out what's wrong with you?"

Nate bit his lip. "He will know what's preventing me from changing?"

"High chance he will." He moved his arm away and instead held it out in a handshake. "My name's David by the way, but call me Dave."

Nate wiped his eye with his hand, placing his glasses back on his face and shaking Dave's hand lightly. "Nathan but Nate's fine."

Dave nodded. "Nice to make your acquaintance." He narrowed his eyes at Nate's arm. "You have a Soul Marking."

Nate followed Dave's gaze down his arm to find that he was looking at the odd red and black tattoo Nate had on his arm. "This?"

"Yeah. Soul Markings are pretty rare for Light Keepers to be born with. Those born with Soul Markings are said to have an abnormally powerful Pretense. But hey that's not important. Follow me, I'll take you to my friend." Dave let go of Nate's arm and began walking in a certain direction.

Nate eyed his Soul Marking. He followed Dave. "So, you know about Light Keepers?"

Dave nodded. "I used to be one. A Light Keeper from Thunder to be more accurate. But roughly six years ago my friend from Sol, who I'm taking you to, and our friend from Gate met up and all three of us went rogue. The details on why are very long and complicated so I'll skip those. But about one year ago, our pal from Gate left us. We don't know why but she suddenly had second thoughts and she went lone wolf."

"Sorry to hear that." Nate sympathised. Dave shrugged. Nate cocked his head to one side. "You mentioned something called a 'Pretense' when talking about Soul Markings. What do you mean by that?"

"Every Light Keeper has one and every one is unique, no two Pretenses are exactly the same. It's a special skill that the person has. It can be anything. Polarity, pyrokinesis, creating illusions. Name anything from the top of your head and it's most likely a Pretense."

Nate eyed his Soul Marking again but quickly tore his gaze away from it. He continued to follow Dave deeper into the forest. After a few minutes, the trees around them had stopped and Nate found themselves in a field which seemed the stretch for miles. The grass was tall and overgrown and many flowers decorated the peridot field. On closer expectation, Nate realised that they were all roses. He felt like he was experiencing some déjà vu despite him never coming here before. Nate's gaze connected with someone who was sitting on the grass, facing away from them. He had scruffy brown hair and he was waving his hand in front of a hologram of some kind.

"Hey, Cry!" Dave called out to him. "I've found a half wendigo, half human that wants some help."

Cry shut down his hologram and turned to look at Dave and Nate. Nate was a bit surprised to see that he was wearing a white, circular mask that covered his whole face. The mask had a plain expression imprinted on it but there were eyes holes cut out, allowing Nate to see that Cry had aqua coloured eyes. He got up onto his feet and walked over to them. "A half human half wendigo huh?"

Nate nodded gently. "Yeah. I committed cannibalism almost six years ago now but I'm still stuck in transformation." Nate found himself explaining everything he told Dave to Cry. After he finished explaining, Cry thoughtfully placed his hand on his chin. "Honestly, I think the reason is pretty obvious."

Nate blinked. "It is?"

Cry nodded. "You have a familiar. The last bit of your humanity is contained in the familiar, preventing you from completely forming. That will also explain why you can speak human. You have a familiar with some sort of language speaking and understanding ability."

Nate narrowed his eyes in thought, looking down at his feet. His eyes then widened as he remembered. _Bowser!_ He remembered seeing the dog back when he was trapped in the cave. Bowser had appeared and led him out. Nate fell asleep afterwards but when he awoke, the dog was no longer there, making Nate think he was just hallucinating or dreaming. _He was my familiar. He's the reason on why I can speak and understand every monster and human language._ Remembering how he summoned Bowser back in the cave, Nate whistled quietly and watched as a transparent dog materialised in front of him

"If you want to become a pure wendigo, you'll need to destroy the familiar." Dave summarised.

Bowser yapped, looking up at Nate happily, not knowing what was about to happen. Nate suddenly felt conflicted. He placed a hand on the dog's head, stroking it gently. Destroy Bowser. Could I really do that? Bowser was the only monster I saw before I committed cannibalism. He gave me hope that one day my delayed sight would clear up. "I.. I don't think I can kill him."

"Emotional attachment?" Dave asked.

Nate gave a tiny nod.

Cry stepped forward, twirling his hand around, summoning a battle axe. "Allow me."

Nate eyed Cry. Something about the masked human intimidated Nate greatly and he couldn't help but feel like he had seen it before, but shook the feeling away. He nodded and moved out of the way. "Just make it quick please." Nate muttered.

Cry probably smirked under his mask. He stalked over to Bowser, raising the axe ready to attack the familiar. He swung it down but at the same time a flash of cobalt blue detonated around the area. Nate closed his eyes and pulled his arms up above his head as smoke zoomed around them. A few moments passed before the smoke cleared. Nate opened his eyes slowly and lowered his arms. Bowser was still alive; in front of him was a blue haired male with blazing yellow eyes, who was conjuring up some sort of magical spiral that was blocking Cry's axe. Nate squinted his eyes. "Charlie?"

"Nate, call back your familiar. Now!" Charlie ordered.

"But-"

"Just fucking whistle and call back the familiar!" Charlie snapped.

Nate whistled and watched as Bowser faded into the air. Charlie cancelled the magic spiral, knocking Cry back slightly. Cry spun his axe back to its key chain and glared icily at Charlie. "That was very abrupt."

Charlie ignored him and turned to face Nate. "You need to get out of here, now. These guys aren't as friendly as they seem."

Nate raised an eyebrow. "What? Charlie, this isn't your business."

"I heard the conversation earlier. Become a pure wendigo? That's the complete opposite of your personality- or what I've seen of it."

"I have my reasons why-"

"You're just scared of hurting someone again aren't you?"

Nate flinched. "N-no... I-"

"You want to become a pure wendigo because becoming one will throw away all your humanity and then you'll no longer feel bad about harming someone. But you will continue to hurt people mentally. Your dad, Jay, Matt-" Nate stiffened at the sound of his boyfriend. "-You seemed to really care about him when you asked me to make sure nothing bad happened to Matt. We were talking about your disappearance on the tube train and he seemed to be worried for you as well. How heartbroken and grief-stricken would he be if he saw you as a pure wendigo? Knowing that there's nothing he can do to change you back and communicate with you? Knowing that you're a Cannibalistic Monster that wants nothing more than to rip his flesh off and consume him and that you have to be killed under Light Keeper rules?"

Nate felt tears build up in his eyes. His gaze travelled down to the ground. _Matt..._ He thought about the scenario Charlie had just stated. Nate being a savage wendigo and Matt staring at him with lament, fear and disappointment. 

Charlie opened his mouth to say something else but before he could say anything, a bang was heard and Charlie snapped his hand over the back of his neck before collapsing onto the grass. "Charlie!" Nate exclaimed. Horrified, he watched as Charlie fell unconscious onto the ground and a black and red creature burrowed its way into the shape shifter's neck.

"Whoops." Nate looked up to see Dave holding a gun which was aimed in the direction of Charlie. He lowered the gun. "My hand slipped." Nate growled at him, but Dave gave a innocent smile as if he didn't do anything. "Sorry for interrupting your little pow wow, but we have some business to return to." He returned the gun back to it's key chain form.

Nate clenched his hands into fists. "What did you do to him?"

Dave shrugged. "Just shot a grim bug into his neck to take over him and turn him into a ravage beast, nothing much." He smirked. "Heck, I did the exact same thing to you a few days ago."

"What?!"

This time Cry spoke. "Wow you really are no brains and all brawn aren't you? The night you were training with the uprising of monsters, we were there. Seriously, you don't recognise me? When you had the vision of the field of roses that turned into a pool of blood, I was there, distracting you so that Dave could fire a grim bug into your neck. We knew from the second we saw you that you were spying for a friend in one of the GHOST Cities. So we planed to implant a grim bug into your neck and have you cause havoc to the point when you were killed. But then _she_  just had to appear and remove the grim bug from your skin."

"How do you know about the uprising and why are you helping them? You're humans!"

"Let's just say; Cassie isn't the real leader of the uprising."

Nate felt his heart stop for a second. Before he could question them further, Dave suddenly charged at him. He spun around, aiming a kick at Nate's head. Nate managed to duck just in time and kicked his own leg at Dave's shin. Dave jumped over the kick effortlessly and swung his leg around, whacking Nate on the side of his face. Nate was kicked a few feet away but managed to landed on his feet with a stumble. He groaned in pain, placing a hand to his cheek which was pulsating in agony. _His weapon must be implemented into his boots somehow_. _That's the only way I can think of for that kick being as powerful as it was._

Nate heard the sound of metal behind him. He turned around to see Cry brandishing his battle axe again and was lumbering towards him. Nate wobbled onto his feet and turned to face the masked human. Cry swung his axe at Nate, who back flipped out of the way. Nate slashed his claws at Cry's neck but he used the axe blade to block the wendigo's attack. His claws made contact with the blade and an odd burning sensation spread through his nails. Nate placed his hand over his burning claws. _What's with these two's weaponry?!_

Cry whirled the axe at Nate again. Not having time to jump out the way, Nate moved his arm to block the axe blade. However, Nate was filled with sudden surprise when the cold axe blade broke through his skin. Nate shrieked at the pain as cardinal blood leaked out of his skin. Noticing that Nate was distracted by the blade successfully penetrating his skin, Cry grabbed Nate's hand tightly before bringing the axe out and hacking it into the same place, causing the wound to open further and more blood to rapidly ooze out, staining the grass as it stained the floor. Nate could no longer concentrate on the fight, his mind whirling around in trauma. Cry struggled the axe out and for a third time, he swung the blade powerfully into the open wound.

A loud, unsettling crunch was heard as the blade managed to break through the bone and the rest of the skin. Nate fell limp, collapsing to the ground and rolling weakly to his side. His eyes were wide and terrified, his body shaken and frozen. He looked feebly at his left arm- or what was left of it. More than half of it was hacked off. Roughly half way where his shoulder and elbow met was remaining, a small stump. Nate felt nothing. He just blankly stared at his amputated arm as it turned into a fountain of garnet blood. _How? I'm a wendigo, the monster with the toughest skin and bone in the world... Only fire can kill or harm me... how is this possible..?_

Nate felt a foot turn him over so that he was facing upwards. Nate's terror filled gaze met with Cry's frosty glare. Nate swore he could see him smirking behind his mask. He raised his axe and rested it over his shoulder, the end dripping with crimson liquid.

"I'll admit that even I'm surprised." He ran a finger over the sharp blade. "I didn't think this beauty was that strong. I knew that it could cut through wendigo skin but wendigo bone? This thing's powerful alright."

Nate felt his breathing increase and heartbeat become rapid.

Cry knelt down and stared darkly at Nate. "This could have been so much easier for you. If you didn't listen to Charlie and just allowed me to destroy your familiar, you could be a pure wendigo, not having a care in the world. But you chose to be ignorant. Letting your human emotions over take you and have second thoughts. You really think you're going to be accepted? Even if you are purified, you've killed, you've murdered and you've eaten so many innocent people. Normals, Light Keepers, Jirard. You've been missing for five- pretty much six years now. Do you really think anyone remembers you? Cares about you?"

Nate felt paralysed. He was still struggling to comprehend what had just happened. He felt nullified, dumbfounded, like everything he had been taught was instantly thrown out his mind. He didn't even hear Cry because of how wrapped up inside his thoughts he was. Nate's defeated gaze travelled back to his stump of an arm. He still felt nothing. No emotions were overpowering him; no fear, no trauma, no sadness, no grief, no regret- nothing. Either that or all of those emotions were hitting him at once and he couldn't decipher which was strongest.

Cry pushed himself back up to his feat. "You hear that? Silence. Quite pleasant to hear after your loud mouth." He hit Nate's stump with the hilt of his axe. "You're lucky that wendigos don't need a blood circulation to survive, otherwise you wouldn't be surviving that injury." Cry place his foot over Nate's throat. He used his sleeve to clean most of the blood from the axe. While he was doing that, Nate's gaze travelled over to his dead, amputated arm that lay helplessly on the crimson stained grass. Despite being a Cannibalistic Monster, Nate felt sick seeing his own dismembered arm on the ground, a broken bone visible sticking out of the skin and rose blood around it. Nate became incredibly shaky, his pulse increased rapidly, his pupils became dilated and he felt his skin colour wash away. He felt sick, nauseous, confused.

He heard Dave cackled behind them. "Look his face. He's utterly traumatised."

Cry spun his axe around, turning it back to its key chain form, and hung it on his belt. "I would think deeply about yourself, Nate, and I would choose a side. But I wouldn't think too hard now. Afterall, it's not an enemy or foe, but your own mind that will lure you to an evil and twisted path."

He removed his foot from over Nate's throat and joined Dave. Nate's glassy gaze followed them as the two walked out of view. Nate felt his shock engulf him. His head rolled onto the ground roughly and his eyes fell shut, whiteness consuming him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha. Everyone hates me now... Please don't riot my house....
> 
> Feel free to play the game called 'Spot the foreshadowing in earlier chapters'. Its absolutely free and it makes you realised that I was being serious about some things mentioned earlier on!


	41. Blood and Tears

The tube train pulled to a stop. The squad of Light Keepers picked up their things and stood up on their feet strongly. The train doors opened and the imp was standing next to them. "Remember you need to go through a Normal town in order to get to Obscurité Forest, so try not to lose your cool." Mark nodded and gestured for everyone else to follow him. Matt trailed behind him as they stepped out onto the platform. Jack then groaned behind him. "Do we have to go through the Normal town?"

"It's the only way to get to Obscurité Forest." Jason told him.

"Ugh. I hate Normals. They're so judgemental about our job." Jack grumbled.

"But you need to remember Normals can't see what we see, if they did they would respect us and understand our job. But they don't, so just understand that's how the world works." Stephanie reminded him.

Jack mumbled but Matt couldn't catch what he said. Mark then butted him. "Just don't retaliate to their words and try not to let their stares worry you. Obscurité Forest is only a few blocks away." Mark opened the door at the end of the platform and walked through it. Matt followed and stared around to find himself and the rest of the squad entering behind the counter of a library. The person behind the counter eyed them as they came out and gave them a nod of good luck as they walked out. They exited the library and wandered onto the Normal street. Instantly, they got dark looks, making Matt's stomach churn with discomfort. Stephanie noticed Matt's uncertainty and moved closer to him. "Try not to think about it." Matt kept his head down slightly so he could avoid eye contact with the Normals. He heard a few people mutter and some teenagers mock them but did his best to block them out and think of the Light Keeper Trial. The Light Keepers powered through the insults and stares and made their way to the forest front. Matt looked up and examined Obscurité Forest. The forest looked dark and the trees hung over. It looked gloomy and dead, like something you would see near a graveyard or any other freaky place. They entered the forest and when they were sure they were far enough away, so no one could hear them, Jack exploded into a rant. "Normals are the fucking worst! Why do they question our 'beliefs' so much? Some Normals believe in different religious stuff and different possible ways the world was created and they're fine with that. So why do they question and hate ours so much?!"

 Mark went over and hugged Jack. "Calm down sweetie, before you scare all the fairies from here to the centre of the world."

"Sorry."

Matt smiled at the two's chemistry. He wondered if Nate and him could become that close- if he can find Nate and cure him with the Purify Flower that is.

Mark patted Jack on the back before separating their hug. "Alright, I think setting up a camp here is a good idea. We're near the end of the forest so we won't get lost and there's a fair amount of trees, yet a slight clearing. And I hear a river over there-" He pointed to his right. "-so we have a fresh water supply."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Jason agreed.

"Okay." Mark clapped his hands together. "Jason, Matt and I will stay here and set up the camp. Jack you go hunting for some food. And Steph can fill up the water bottles and see if they are any edible plants or berries around."

As soon as Mark gave everyone roles, they separated into their jobs. Jack summoned his crossbow and walked away and Stephanie signalled for everyone to pass her their water bottles. They did so and she stumbled away with the bottles in hand. Matt and Mark got to work with taking hammocks out and hanging them around the trees. He glanced over to Jason, who was placing force field poles around the camp so that they can make a force field of their own to protect themselves.

"So what's on the list of resources?" Matt questioned, turning back to see what he was doing.

"Not much really. We need to find some certain healing flowers, get a monster hideout's coordinates and bring back an inhuman monster part." Mark summarised. "I know it doesn't sound like much but it's quite difficult to do all those things in three days."

"I can imagine. How do we find a monster hideout?" Matt asked.

Mark shrugged. "It's not that difficult. You've just got to search around for odd markings in tree bark, walls or-"

"Hey I found a monster hideout by the river!" Stephanie announced as she wandered in the camp with the full water bottles hugged against her chest. "It seems to be a some sort of aquatic monster hideout so I'm not sure what monsters live in it exactly, since Opal specialises with aquatic monsters but that's a hideout and one thing off the list."

Mark gave a 'huh'. "I guess you can also find them in water."

A sudden scream caused everyone to snap their heads towards the sky. Matt shuddered. The scream was a mixture of anger and pain.

"What the?" Stephanie looked around the sky.

"That's not a human scream." Jason informed. "That sounds like it came from a wendigo."

Matt froze. _Is Nate around here?_

"If that was a wendigo I hope Jack heard it. Those things are dangerous if they get you cornered and you have nothing that can harm them." Mark spoke with concern.

"Jack would send off a flare if he was in trouble." Matt commented. "But I could go and check."

Mark hesitated. "Alright, but bring the flare and flashlight with you. It's getting pretty dark."

Matt nodded. He took the flashlight out of his bag and tucked the flare gun on his belt. "I won't be long." He promised. He left the camp and began wader in in the direction of where the scream came from. His feet crunched over sticks and leaves and the cold air brushed his face. He kept his hand close to his weapon key chain, incase a monster suddenly jumped out. He turned on his flashlight and quickly shone the light around the area. Nothing but grass and trees. He continued to trek through the woods for a few more minutes. Still nothing. _Maybe I should turn back._

Matt scanned his flashlight over the grass and flinched when the light connected with blood. He panicked, frantically moving the light around to see what might have happened. The grass was rough and pulled out everywhere, as if someone was lying there before they ran off. His flashlight then landed on something which caused Matt's eyes to widen and mouth to drop.

Lying unconscious on the bloodstained grass, was Nate.

Matt instantly dropped to his knees and shook Nate's shoulder. "Nate? Nate!" The wendigo didn't show any sign of movement. Matt rolled Nate onto his back and froze- now he knew where all the blood had came from. Nate's left arm was no longer a full arm, but a crimson bloody stump. "Holy shit." Matt muttered under his breath.

"Matt! What are you doing out here?" Jack called from behind him. Matt turned around, watched as the green haired Light Keeper stumbled over the undergrowth, a couple of squirrels hanging from his belt. He looked at Matt, then his gaze fell on Nate, and like Matt's, his eyes widened with fright and his voice sounded weak. "That's Nate... What happened to his arm?"

"I don't know." Matt responded helplessly. "But, we can't leave him out here. We have to bring him back to our camp with us."

Jack nodded firmly. "Think you can carry him? One of us needs to have free hands just in case a monster decides to ambush us."

"I think so." Matt placed on arm under Nate's shoulders and the other arm under Nate's thighs. He delicately lifted the half wendigo up, he was surprisingly light, and held him tightly to his chest to insure he didn't drop him. Jack summoned his crossbow and held the handle of his flashlight in his mouth, so he could hold his weapon strongly in both hands. He looked back at Matt to see if he was okay to move. Matt made sure he was handling Nate steadily before nodding. Jack turned around and led them back to their camp. Matt followed slowly, watching his footsteps as he walked. Nate's head rolled silently into Matt's chest. Matt blinked at him. The wendigo's breathing was uneven and filled with pain. Grief slapped Matt's heart. "What did this to you Nate?" He whispered.

They strolled towards the camp. Jason was knelt by the fire, Stephanie was dozing in her hammock and Mark was looking over the list of resources they were given. Jack spun his crossbow back into its key chain and took his flashlight out of his mouth and turned it off. "Steph get the medkit! We've found Nate, but he's not in good shape!"

Stephanie's head shot up at Jack's voice and both Jason and Mark turned to Jack's direction. When they saw the problem, Stephanie rapidly rolled out of her hammock and snatched the med kit from the ground. Jason got to his feet and touched the wall of the force field. He tapped a few other things and the force field gave a light glow. "I've weaken the force field's wendigo senses, so hopefully it'll sense's Nate's human half more and let him pass."

Matt nodded and followed Jack into the camp. He managed to pass the force field without Nate getting affected by it. He carefully lay Nate on the ground, lying his back against a tree trunk. Stephanie sat next to the half human and analysed is injury. "What happened?"

"We don't know." Jack shrugged. "We just found him like that."

Stephanie bit her lip. "Okay. I'm going to need some space. Jason should serve up some food while I check this out. I'll join you guys in a bit."

Everyone, particularly Matt, hesitantly nodded. Jason grabbed the squirrels that Jack had hunted earlier and began dicing them into pieces and rationing them out. While he cooked them, Matt fell deep into his thoughts. _How did Nate lose his arm? Did a monster do it? A human? Himself? But how? Only fire or another wendigo can harm or kill a wendigo. So did he get in a fight with a wendigo that tore off his arm?_ Matt shuddered at the thought of losing a limb. Sure, he had nine lives and it was scary to think about dying, at least his body fully recovered after death. Losing a limb must be scarring. After some more thought, Jason dished out the meal into metal tins for each of them. He passed one to Mark, then Matt, then Jack, took one for himself and set one aside for Stephanie later. Matt took the tin of food, which was cooked squirrel meat and cooked vegetables of some kind. Matt ate it silently, and so did everyone else. The atmosphere had suddenly become uncomfortable and full of concern and it felt difficult to breath.

Matt inaudibly finished his meal and passed the tin back to Jason. He opened his water bottle and took a long drink. While he the closed the cap, he turned to look at Stephanie and Nate. By the look of it, she was wrapping a bandage around Nate's stump. He placed his water bottle down and took the tin of food made for Stephanie and walked over to where she was kneeling down. Nate was leaning against a tree trunk, his eyes close and mouth open, breathing heavily and unevenly. Stephanie had a hand on his neck, feeling for a pulse. Matt sat down next to her, placing the tin of food beside her. "This is yours."

She turned to him and smiled lightly. "Thanks."

He smiled back at her before his vision fell on Nate. "How is he?"

Stephanie moved her hand away and shook her head. "He's not good. His pulse is incredibly weak, he's barely conscious and his breathing is all over the place. I've put unicorn saliva over the wound to clean it from possible infection and I've tidied as much of the blood as I could. I've also managed to get him to swallow some tablets to help ease the pain. But he's definitely going through some sort of shock. He must've lost a lot of blood from losing his arm, which is affecting his human half badly. In a way, he should be thankful that he's half wendigo, it's the only thing keeping him alive."

Matt blinked pitifully at Nate. His gaze eventually travelled down to the bandaged up arm. "How did this happen?" He wondered aloud.

Stephanie shrugged. "I don't know. With how jagged the wound is, I would guess that it was done by some sort of weapon with a blade. Maybe he got into a fight with a Light Keeper of Sol?"

"Even if he did, Sol only has weapons that can break through wendigo skin, not wendigo bone. Unless there's been an upgrade to Sol's weapons that they haven't informed us about." Jason added, overhearing their conversation.

Matt's attention snapped to Nate when he heard the wendigo wheeze painfully. He immediately got up and sat down next to Nate. The wendigo's eyes opened steadily. It took a moment before he saw Matt in front of him. "Matt? How...Where...Where's Charlie?..Where am..I..." He drifted off, his head rolled to the side and he groaned. His eyes shut as he fell unconscious again. Matt blinked. Charlie was here? Did Charlie do this?!

"Leave him to rest. We don't know what he's gone through." Mark ordered.

Matt reluctantly nodded. He rose to his feet before Mark added. "Maybe all of us should get some rest. We'll need our strength if we're going to find a monster with an inhuman feature, cut it off and bring it back." Everyone muttered in agreement. Matt hoisted himself up into his hammock, gave one more look at Nate before tucking himself into his sleeping bag and closing his eyes, letting sleep overtake him.

 

Matt was awoken by rain pelting down on his face. He used his hand to shield his eyes from the downpour and opened them. Coal coloured clouds had consumed the sky and heavy rain drops were falling from it. He heard groans from everyone else as they began to wake up.

"Why does it have to fucking rain?" Jack snarled with a yawn.

"Just our luck isn't it?" Stephanie commented.

Mark jump out from his hammock. "Alright, everyone get up and pack up everything. We'll find a cave or a bunch of trees or something to shelter under."

At his words, everyone gradually jumped out of their hammocks and began to take everything down. Matt and Stephanie began packing the sleeping supplies away in their big supply bag, Jason was deactivating the force field he created, Jack was packing the remaining food they had into his own bag and Mark walked over to check on Nate. They finished packing up everything. Jason took the large supply bag and Stephanie took hold of the med kit. Matt looked over to Mark, who was gently picking up Nate onto his feet. He placed Nate's right arm over his neck to secure him and placed Nate's feet delicately on the ground. Nate's feet connected with the ground and he was able to stand but barely. He wobbled and tumbled over his own steps. Matt stepped forward. "I'll carry him." He offered. "You're the leader of the squad, you should have your hands free."

Mark hesitated before nodding in agreement. He held Nate still so that Matt could carefully pick him up. He picked up Nate like he did last time, bridal style, and held him gingerly. He was a bit surprised when Nate hooked his one arm around Matt's neck and dug his head into Matt's chest. Nate sniffled into Matt. "I'm scared."

Matt hushed him. "It's alright. I won't let anything else happen to you."

Nate nuzzled his head further into Matt's chest. "You can't promise that."

Matt felt his heart drop. _He sounds so so defeated..._

"Alright, we've got everything. Let's move." Mark instructed. He took lead and Jack followed right behind him. Stephanie and Jason gestured Matt to go in front of them, he obeyed. They moved quickly yet cautiously through the forest, wet leaves and branches brushing their hair and clothes and they walked through them and the thick rain made it hard to see.

After a few long minutes of walking through the muddy undergrowth, Jack perked up. "Hey, I see something in the distance."

"Well, what is it?" Jason inquired.

Jack narrowed his eyes and ran slightly. He stopped as he took in his surroundings. He then called back "It's a wooden house! I mean, it's not in the best shape, but it has a roof and walls and it seems to have a solid door. It'll shelter us from the rain at least."

The group eyed Mark for orders. Mark bit his lip in thought before nodding. "Okay, let's head there and then will plan what to do."

Nods were shared and the squad headed in the direction of the house. When Matt saw the house come into view, he saw what Jack meant by it not being the best condition. It looked like it was abandoned years ago with tiny holes in the ceiling and walls. _Better than nothing._ The squad headed inside and closed the door behind them. It was nice to be out of the pounding rain, despite there being a few leaks in the ceiling, it wasn't too bad. He bent down and softly rested Nate against the wall. Nate was hesitant to remove his hand from around Matt's neck. "I'm right here. I won't leave you okay?" Nate gave a tiny nod before withdrawing his arm away from Matt and eyed the house as if he was experiencing déjà vu.

Stephanie and Jack placed their bags on the ground. "We're gonna search this place for supplies. You never know what you might find in an abandoned shit hole like this." Jack informed.

Mark nodded. "Don't wander to far now."

"Don't worry, we won't be too long-"

"No!" Nate interrupted, fear fuelling his words. "You can't!"

Stephanie quirked an eyebrow. "Why not?

"This place is dangerous. There's something here, I can sense it. I know this place.."  He began to rambling uncontrollably. "Not this place. I've seen this place from my visions, dreams, nightmares- memento moris. Please no; not this place. Not this place.. is my time really now? Why this place? Not this place. Please no..."

"Nate snap out of it! What's wrong? What is this place?" Matt questioned, puzzlement printed on his face.

Nate was shaking so badly that it made a chihuahua look tame. His eyes were wide and full of trepidation. "I'm destined to die here."


	42. Silence

_I'm not gonna make it. Is it almost over now? Can't see the way run down._

Nate's words were like daggers in Matt's heart. "What?"

"Wendigo. Fire. Explosion. Death." Nate was rambling quietly, seemingly not hearing Matt. He huddled himself against the wall as much as he could.

_I can't understand how this chain reaction has brought me to the edge I'm looking down._

"No one is going to die." Mark spoke up, carefully grabbing Nate's arm and placing it around his neck so he could support Nate on his feet. "We'll get up and move out."

"But we just got here and it's raining still." Jason grumbled.

"But I think making sure someone doesn't die is a higher priority." Stephanie argued.

"And I think we're all screwed." Jack commented noiselessly.

_One more step, would it make me free?_

Matt noticed Jack was looking across the other side of the house. Matt followed his gaze slowly to watch as a lean, white creature crawled its way through a hole in the wall. A ghostly hand hooked around the wooden walls and pulled itself in. Matt froze, he started shaking as a wendigo, at least twice the size of Nate, squeezed into the house and began stalking around the floor. It look directly towards the squad, its milky, dead eyes full of bloodlust. However, it didn't seem to see them, instead it was sniffing the air, its fangs hung over its mouth in both an underbite and an overbite as it tasted the air.

_I could fall into the darkness, realise that I'm just so afraid._

"It can smell us." Nate muttered.

"But it can't see us." Jack whispered. "It must be an old one."

"Hush it and don't move." Mark growled. "Don't move a fucking muscle." 

Matt swallowed a lump in his throat. He forced his body to stay still as the wendigo looked around viciously, trying to search for the humans. It was creeping around the house, it's frighteningly long nails scratching against the floorboards. "How are we going to get out of this?" Matt asked, almost silently.

"I don't know, I'm thinking." Mark mumbled.

"Maybe we can walk incredibly slowly out of here?" Stephanie suggested.

"I'm not sure if you've noticed but it's blocking the door." Jason snapped quietly. "It knows there's a meal for it in here, so it's blocking the only possible escape."

Jack gritted his teeth. "Maybe one of us could distract it?"

Matt saw Nate in the corner of his eye look down at his feet thoughtfully.

"But that means one of us will most likely die." Stephanie stated.

_I don't want to destroy life... Remember._

"I'll do it." Mark insisted. "As squad leader it's my duty to keep you guys safe."

Jack looked horrified. "No! You are not putting yourself in that amount of risk."

Mark sighed. "Jack, one of us has to and I don't want any of you guys to-"

"I'll do it."

Everyone's eyes locked onto Nate. Nate blinked at the wendigo, who was still searching for the squad. Matt saw hesitation in Nate's dark eyes. "I'll do it." He echoed, more quietly.

Shocking looks fell over everyone, especially Matt. "No Nate. You can't." He argued.

_I know you want to, it's alright... Remember._

Nate bit his lip, obviously not liking his own decision. "Look, I'm already destined to die here. Not many people can avoid a death vision. I'm already halfway to death's door, you guys still have long, strong lives to live. I might as well sacrifice myself for your guys's safety." He turned to look at Matt and the others. Matt perilously tried to think of a dispute to stop Nate but his mind was blank. Everyone else was silent too. Knowing the silence meant no one was going to stop him, Nate gave Matt an innocent smile. "Matt, thank you for everything."

_I'm not gonna make it. Is it almost over now?_

Matt opened his mouth to speak but Nate quickly moved out of the way of everyone else. The wendigo's attention suddenly snapped to Nate as he ran across the house. It darted towards Nate and the half human had no time to move out of the way. It snatched it's jaws around Nate's neck and hurled him to the far side of the house. Nate weakly rolled as he landed on his side. He staggered onto his feet and gave a taunting hiss at the bigger wendigo. The wendigo charged at him again, claws high and ready to slash down. Nate went to move both of his hands in front of the attack to block it, but Matt noticed him flinched as he looked at his left stump. Matt felt his heart stop. He forgot about his one arm. This moment of hesitation caused Nate to get smacked around effortlessly by the wendigo.

_Can't see the way to go. I feel so alone. My blood is on the ground, this time I lost control._

Matt glanced around, trying to move his body and head as little as possible. _There must be a way we can all get out of this._ His eyes soon locked onto the light bulb at the other side of the room. He narrowed his eyes in thought, looking over to the light switch, which was a handful of steps away from the door out of the house. Gas leak. Light bulb. Light switch.

_I gave up my thoughts, lived just by reaction. Made nothing but a fake, empty escape._

Matt eyes widened as an idea shot through his head. _That could work. But would everyone get out in time?_ _And one of us needs to stay behind to flick to switch, that person will have a high chance of dying...I still have seven lives remaining, I could stay behind._ Making the decision in his mind, Matt eyed the light bulb. Is there a way I can silently break that so I don't attract the wendigo's attention? It then hit him. He looked over to Jack, desperately trying to make eye contact with him. The green haired Light Keeper took notice and eyed Matt back in confusion. Matt nodded his head towards the light bulb, mouthing 'shoot' as clearly as he could.

_'Be true to yourself' I've heard enough of that._

It took a moment before Jack registered what Matt wanted him to do. He nodded lightly in understanding before twirling his key chain to summon his crossbow and aimed it at the light bulb. Crossbows are silent, so that was under control. _Now to get everyone out of here without being seen._

Jack shot an arrow from his weapon and Matt watched as it silently rushed across the room and smashed into the light bulb, the glass shattering as it made contact. The wendigo look up at the faint sound, scanning the room. Nate, who was battered on the floor, picked himself up and clawed the wendigo's back to get the monster to focus back on him. The wendigo snarled at Nate, twirling around and harshly dug its claws around Nate's throat and lower jaw. It effortlessly picked Nate from the ground and lobbed him to the opposite side of the house. Nate slumped on the floor and his body went still. Matt flinched. _Nate said something about fire and an explosion. What I'm trying to do is set the whole house on fire..._ Matt felt a horrible feeling of guilt pool inside him. _Is my plan the cause of Nate's death?_ He watched as the half human attempted to lift himself back onto his feet but fell over before he got a inch of the ground. He looked incredibly weak and seemed like he was about to pass out at any second. His human side was practically dead. He couldn't move. There was no way they could get Nate out with them.

_I know if I remember I'll find the good. I don't care._

Matt shook his head. _Don't think like that! We will get him out. He won't die._ He tried to reassure himself but something about Nate's half unconscious body told him otherwise.

Matt glanced over to the squad; Jack had called back his crossbow and he also noticed Jason was a lot closer to the door than earlier. Matt realised he must have shuffled closer to it when Nate was distracting the wendigo for them. In fact, all of them look slightly closer to the door. _They know what my plan is._ Matt felt relief flush over him.

_I don't want to destroy life... Remember._

A creak of a floorboard echoed through the house as Stephanie stepped back. The wendigo snapped around in an instant, growling. Stephanie froze and Matt eyed her with worry. The wendigo crept forward in her direction, slowly looming over her. Everyone shared uncertain glance. No one knew what to do. Any drastic movement would get them all killed. The wendigo lifted its bony hand above its head, ready to lash down at her.

_I know you want to (I don't know) It's alright (it's not alright) Remember ( You think you know?)_

A sudden blue light filled the room, catching everyone's attention in a heartbeat. Matt blinked at where the source of the light was being emitted and his eyes widened. Nate, who had a cobalt glow around him, pushed himself onto his feet and fiercely glared at the wendigo, who was staring at Nate with dead white eyes.

Nate gritted his teeth. "Leave. My friends. Alone. You're opponent is me, so turn and face me!"

_I still believe. I still believe in myself._

Blue flames erupted all over Nate. Matt was frozen with astonishment. He remembered what Jay said, about Nate suddenly bursting into blue flames out of anger. Was this what he meant? The wendigo turned away from Stephanie and charged at Nate. Nate rolled out of the way, neatly rolling back onto his feet. He ran the the wendigo, spinning around and kicking it in the face. The monster flinched backwards and Nate punched it in the jaw, causing it to stagger. The wendigo snarled before slashing it's claws down at Nate, who swiftly flipped backwards, using his one arm to support himself as flipped back elegantly.

_I'm not gonna make it. Is it almost over now?_

He watched the fight unfold. It had pretty much switched around, the wendigo attacking but Nate successfully blocking them and countering well. _His fighting style has turned more human._ Matt observed. _Does that have something to do with the blue flames?_ Jason made it by the door exit and bolted out, Stephanie right behind him. Just Jack, Mark and Nate to go.

Matt started to steadily stepped a few feet back, so he was closer to the light switch slightly. Jack approached the door and ran out speedily. Matt bit his lip nervously. He lightly stepped closer to the light switch. It wasn't until now he realised how far away the door was from the light switch. If he didn't want to lose a life, he'd have to book it as soon as he flicks the switch.

Mark stalked past him. "Are you sure you want to be the one doing that?" Mark whispered with concern.

Matt nodded in response.

_Can't see the way to go. I feel so alone. My blood is on the ground, I can't forgive this anymore._

Mark bit his lip and nodded back. He carefully stepped backwards and backed out of the building. A ear-splitting screech caused Matt's attention to snap around. Matt's eyes widened as the wendigo raked it's claws across Nate's cheeks and neck, leaving a large fresh claw mark. Nate stumbled back, stunned from the attack. The wendigo slashed at him again in the same place, causing the claw mark over Nate's face and bottom jaw to grow larger and the wound opened, ruby blood pouring out his cheek. The blue embers around Nate died down suddenly and the burst of energy he had earlier was destroyed with it. Nate slumped onto the floor, unable to support himself. Matt felt as if he had swallowed a brick. How was he suppose to get Nate out of here? He was finally in reaching distance of the light switch. He double-taked between the light switch and the wendigo that was circling Nate, unsure what to do.

_I just wanna make it. If it's almost over now?_

Nate feebly stood up, barely any strength was left inside him. He fearfully turned around back to face the monster, that was staring at him cruelly. It snatched Nate up by his jaw and used it's other hand to impale him from the stomach. Nate yelped in pain, coughing up blood vigorously. Nate weakly looked up to connect his gaze with Matt's. He nodded faintly as if to say 'do it'. Matt moved his gaze to his feet. _I'm so sorry._

_Can't see the way to go. I feel so alone. My blood is on the ground, I can't forgive this anymore._

Allowing a rogue tear to roll down his dry cheek, Matt flipped the switch and bolted for the door. He heard the gas and the light fuse together into a raging, fiery explosion. The wendigo's screech could be heard as the flames engulfed it and soon after Nate's own screams were heard. Matt made it to the entrance but the explosion caught up with him. It blasted him forwarded, shooting him out of the house. Agony filled his back as he was sent tumbling forward. He fell to the ground, rolling in the grass. He landed on his back and even more pain shot through him. He turned onto his stomach. He gently ran a hand over his back and flinched in pain as he felt a hole in the rear of his clothing that the fire ate away and blistering burns.

"Matt!"

_Who chooses what is right? No one can begin to say._

Matt gazed up to see Stephanie, Jason, Jack and Mark running towards him. Stephanie knelt down next to him and tried to pick him up. Matt winced in pain as Stephanie's hands touched his burns. "Sorry." She apologised, resting him against the ground.

Matt smiled faintly. "It's fine." He groaned in torment as he felt his mind toss and turn around. He felt his body collapse on the ground and his eyes snap close automatically.

"Shit! Hold on Matt." Matt heard Mark's voice, followed by the shuffling of a bag zip. After a second, a click of a flare gun was heard before hearing it being fired to the sky.

_So will you turn around? Or will you fade away?_

Matt attempted to open his eyes but everything around him was blurry and spinning. He could barely make out the orange flare smoke above him. Matt spoke softly. "An orange flare? But that means-" Matt drifted off, his head rolling to his side.

"You're life is more important than this trial." Mark cut him off. "Don't try to talk, save your energy. Hopefully someone will see that and come to our aid."

_My heart is crying out, I may never see._

Matt found his eyes looking back at the burning house. _Nate..._ He felt his eyes shut and his agony take over him, turning everything black.

_But still I have to go... I have to go._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song in italics is 'Last Theatre' which is the ending song for 'Death Parade' (aka my favourite anime in case any of you were wondering for some reason).


	43. We Are All Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to put this in the end notes but I ran out of room, so I'm putting it here. I want to give special thanks to a few people. Thank you to TheGreatKhan17 and Wolfiethepretzel for drawing fanart for this fic on Tumblr and thank you to Futurewatcher for helping me edit most of the chapters. And thank you to everyone who has read and enjoyed this fic, I didn't expect this to gain this much attention and all of you have really made me consider my thoughts of becoming an author to become a lot stronger. So I thank all of you for that :)

Nate felt like he was drowning in an abyss of despair. He felt himself sinking into what felt like water, but a lot thicker. His body felt limp and lifeless, almost as if he couldn't control his own movements. He eyes were glued closed as he fell further down the watery abyss.

"Wake up Nate. Open your eyes, please."

 _That voice... It's so familiar but, who is it?_ It was too faint for him to recall. He felt his mind go groggy. He could hear other voices too, but they were incredibly quiet and disoriented, making him unable to work out what they were saying. Along with the vague voices, he could hear some odd sounds; the crackling of fire, what seemed to be orders from one person to another and he could feel a sudden weight on his chest that kept pressing down and lifting up. He also felt something get shoved down his throat, but it didn't seem to affect him.

"Nate. Get up. Now. Please."

 _That voice again._ He thought desperately, wanting to remember who the voice belonged to. Then, he felt his heart stop for a moment. Hunter. He gently opened his eyes, gazing around at his surroundings, which looked exactly what it felt like; thick, dark water. It wasn't until now that Nate realised he wasn't breathing, his chest wouldn't allow him to breath but it didn't affect him. He looked around but he couldn't see anything but the thick, murky water-like substance around him. He looked around at his surroundings, everything looked exactly the same, except the water seemed to fade into a blinding light beneath him. "Hunter?" He spoke delicately.

"Swim up Nate. Don't fall into the light." Hunter instructed.

Nate attempted to obey his friend but as soon as he moved his arm in a swimming motion, pain surged through his body and his hissed. _Why does my body hurt so much? I feel as if I've been hit by a car off a cliff._ He looked underneath himself. He felt fear shake within him as he saw how close to the light he was. He didn't know what would happen if he fell in it, but he trusted Hunter's word. He moved his arm again, clenching his teeth together in pain as torment flushed through his body again. He roughly shook his head to knock the pain burning away. He moved again, swiping his hand furiously through the water. The liquid surrounding him was incredibly thick, like tar, it was very difficult to move in. Growling in frustration,  Nate kicked his legs to help propel himself upwards. Torment flowed through his body but he did his best to ignore it and forced himself to keep his mind on swimming up and away from the light beneath him. As he swam further away from the light, he saw that he was coming near the surface of the water. Nate continued to swim upwards. He felt his fingertips brush through the water and into the air. Nate pushed himself to give one last strong kick upwards, and he felt his head break through the water and outside.

Nate felt his eyes snap open as he gasped for breath. Feeling air enter his lungs, Nate hungrily swallowed as much oxygen as he could. 

"He's alive!"

Nate then realised that there was noticed what was around him. A man, that Nate recognised from the night of the deal but couldn't place a name to his face, was kneeling by his chest and a woman, who he supposed was Amanda, was also by his side, a small oxygen bag above his head, which had a lead that was shoved down Nate's throat. She squeezed it, causing oxygen to flow out of it and into Nate's lungs. Nate breathed through his mouth, slowly calming down with each breath. Amanda turned to the man behind her, handing him the oxygen bag. "Jared, pump this about every five or six seconds. I need to contact the rest of the Gate nurses to come here. We won't be able to carry him back without hurting him thanks to his burns so we're going to have to treat him here."

Jared nodded, taking control of the oxygen bag as Amanda got up, whipping her phone out to try and find a signal. Jared followed her instructions, squeezing the bag every few seconds to send more oxygen down Nate's throat. Nate closed his eyes, beginning to relax. He started to recall why he was in this situation; the house, the fire, he didn't feel in pain though- which he was sure wasn't a good thing. He eyed his arm to notice dark splodges of colour over it, which had small white splodges over them and a dark brown stripe along his arm, confirming to himself that he was in the house when the explosion engulfed it. Nate tried to throw out the thought and focused breathing in the air the oxygen bag was supplying him.

"Amanda, Matt's not breathing!" Nate recognised the voice of Austin.

 _Matt!?_ Nate tried to turn his head to look in the direction of the person's voice but there were a lot of people blocking his vision from what was happening. He saw Amanda bit her lip in thought. She turned back to Jared and Nate. "Nate should be able to breath on his own now. Take the oxygen bag out of Nate's throat gently and do the same thing to Matt that you were doing to Nate."

Jared softly pulled the lead out of Nate's throat, who gagged slightly at the feeling. He pulled it out and hastily went over to where Matt was, but Nate still couldn't see thanks to the audience around Matt. He wanted to get up and see Matt badly but he knew if he attempted to stand with the burns on his feet, it would hurt- a lot. Instead, he lightly picked himself up onto his rear end and leaned himself delicately against a tree. Nate took a deep breath in relief, at least he thought it was relief.

He wasn't sure what to think. Should he be happy that he survived the fire? Should he fell angry since he was destined to die here yet he avoided it? He didn't know; his mind was jumbled. _How did I survive?_  Nate went to rest his hand over his chest but felt something tucked under his shirt that made him raise a suspicious eyebrow. He reached his hand inside his shirt and grabbed the object, pulling it out to take a look at it. As he saw what it was, Nate couldn't help but give a weak smile. A small fire emblem which was attached to a necklace that was around his throat. However, the fire symbol was a different colour than he remembered; he swore it was a fiery orange and red but now it was a burnt brown and it not longer had its smooth texture, it now felt scabrous. Nate eyed it for a moment before lazily placing it on top of his shirt instead of hiding it under it.

His head rolled to his side as he tore his gaze away from the necklace. Nate's eyes travelled to the mess of trees in front of him, and he squinted when he saw someone amongst the trees. They were too far away for him to see much of it was a man or a woman but by the looks of it, they were wearing a wolf mask so he probably wouldn't have been able to tell anyway. He could feel his gaze lock with their's and their heart beat fall in sync with his. After about a minute, the stranger turned around and walked off deeper into the woods. Nate kept his eyes glued in the direction they stalked off, thinking deeply.

 

 

 

Matt gently parted his eyes open. He was in a bed, pillows underneath his head and a thick duvet over his body. It took a moment for he realised he was in a hospital room- one of Gate's hospital rooms. He propped himself up onto his elbows and looked around. Opposite him was a TV built into the wall and next to him was a neat bedside table with the TV remote on it and also some cards with something along the lines of 'get well' written on them. He picked them up individually and examined them. One from Jason, one from Stephanie which had some kisses written on it, one from Jack and Mark which had a heart drawn next to their names, one from Austin which had a crudely drawn ferret on it, which made Matt chuckle. There was also one from AJ, but in the card were the words 'you lost another one', making Matt stiffen as he realised he meant he lost another life. _That's my third life gone. Only six remaining._

He placed the card back down on the table, biting his lip worriedly. He inhaled, taking a deep breath to relax himself. Matt's head turned to his door as he heard it fling open with such force. Stephanie burst through the door, her eyes connected to Matt's before she rushed towards him and threw her arms around him in a strong hug. Matt chuckled, hugging back. "Hi Steph."

"Steph, stop choking Matt to death."

Stephanie let go of Matt with a innocent smile. Behind her, Matt saw Jason, Jack and Mark now in the room, Jack was standing close to Mark. Jason pulled Stephanie away from Matt. "Sorry. I'm just so glad you're not dead." She apologised.

Matt swallowed a lump in his throat. "Right." Individually, they leaned forward to give him a reassuring hug. Matt felt sadness clog his throat, trying not to cry over his friends. He desperately wanted to tell them about his nine lives, but he didn't exactly understand them himself and he knew AJ wanted him to keep quiet about it; so he stayed silent. After a meaningful hug from everyone Matt spoke. "I saw you shoot the orange flare before I passed out. Sorry that I cost us to fail the trial."

Mark shook his head. "Don't apologise, we would rather have you alive and fail the trial rather than have you dead and passed the trial. Luckily for us, Austin and Jared were doing a monster hideout check nearby and arrived in a few minutes after you fell unconscious. They gave you basic support before the nurses from Gate arrived about five minutes later. Besides, AJ's offered us a second chance a week after you've woken up, if you're up for it."

Matt nodded in an answer. He then tilted his head. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Roughly two days." Jason responded.

"T-two days?!" Matt sputtered.

Jack nodded. "You fainted a few minutes after we escaped the burning house. You've been asleep since then. You've stirred a couple of times, but this is the first time you've woken up." Mark sat himself down on Matt's hospital bed, holding his hands together.

"The burning house." Matt echoed in a whisper. He then gasped loudly as he recalled something that made him freeze in sorrow. "Nate!" He searched his friends faces for an answer, but all of them had a despair filled expression. "Nate... He didn't make it, did he?" He asked quietly, despite knowing the answer to the question.

The squad exchanged looks with one another. Stephanie was then the next to speak, shaking her head softly. "You're wrong." Matt quirked an eyebrow before she spoke again, a pure, small smile on her face. "Nate survived the explosion."

Matt blinked rapidly and swore he just felt the whole world spin. "He did?!"

Mark nodded. "When you fainted and Austin was taking care of you, a woman wearing a wolf mask-" Matt remembered the woman who saved him from Nate when he was under the influence of a grim bug "-power-walked into the flaming house and walked out cradling Nate in her arms. There was some sort of magic veil over the two of them that protected them from the flames. She handed Nate over to us along with a private letter for AJ. While the nurses were looking over him, they found a broken necklace of fire resistance around his neck. It was freshly broken though, meaning it must have protected him from most of the blast before breaking. Sure, he stopped breathing and living for a minute but the nurses, along with Jared, managed to resuscitate him."

Matt closed his eyes in relief and thought. I gave him the necklace of fire resistance when we first talked. He reopened his eyes. "So Nate's alright?"

Jack bit his lip."I wouldn't say 'alright'. He's been purified; but he's been through a shit ton of surgery for his arm and burns and since he's been purified, he's got stitches for the large claw mark on his face and he can't stand very well because of extreme burns on his feet. He's been asleep for most of the two days you've been unconscious for, so you haven't missed much."

"Then again he's only been purified for forty-eight hours." Jason added. "And with how long he was in transformation for, his body would be struggling with the sudden change from monster to human. Especially since he was technically finished with his transformation, it would be a lot more of a struggle and more painful than normal."

Stephanie nodded. "He'll definitely be staying in the hospital building for at least a month. Not only that but he has to adjust back into human life and with only one arm now. It's going to take a while for him to get used to things."

"Is he awake now?" Matt questioned.

She shrugged. "Not sure. He was asleep when we last checked on him, which was roughly two hours ago. He just came out of surgery for his arm five minutes before you woke up."

"Have you heard anything about that? About what they're going to do about his arm?"

"I heard Amanda on the phone to a high ranked Light Keeper of Thunder earlier. They've decided that once Nate is well enough to stand on his own two feet, either he'll get sent to Thunder or someone from Thunder will come here, take measurements and start working on a prosthetic arm for him." Mark answered.

Matt hung his head, looking down at his hands as they squeezed the duvet he was under in anger. _I will not forgive whoever or whatever did that to Nate._

"We also told AJ and the nurses about the sudden blue flames that Nate burst into." Mark added.

Matt snapped his head up to look at him. "Do they know why that happened?"

"They're saying it's his Pretense." Jason continued for him. "We'll learn about Pretenses once we graduate to Three Star, but it's basically a power that everyone has but everyone is unique. Jared, he's the Pretense teacher, deduced that Nate's Pretense is either connected to his emotions or when he's about to die. It seems to act as a powerful 'last resort' kind of attack. The blue flames act like some sort of shield over his body that makes it that he can't feel his wounds so he can fight strongly and it also boosts his strength. But once he gets badly hurt, the blue flames break and he collapses."

Matt looked down at his hands, clutching them together softly. Mark gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's go and get some food, you're probably starving after being asleep for two days."

It wasn't until Mark mentioned it that Matt realised how hungry he was. "Yeah, that sounds good."

Everyone nodded blissfully before walking out the room. Matt stepped out of his bed, following them and closing the door behind him. He trailed behind them, eyeing the inside of each hospital room as he went by. He stopped moving when his eyes connected with an ebony male sitting upright in his bed, back against the pillows and gazing out the window thoughtfully. He desperately wanted to rush in there and give Nate a large hug, but with Nate's burns, he knew that was a terrible idea. "Hey." He called out to Stephanie, Jason, Jack and Mark, who were holding hands lovingly. They all turned around to face him, concerned. "Can you wait a minute, please?" I want to-" He looked over to Nate's hospital room and back to his friends multiple times.

All of them smiled. Stephanie gave a chuckle. "We know. Go ahead. Take your time, we'll wait."

Matt nodded. "Thank you." He rotated and walked towards the room door and gently creaked the door open. Matt blinked as he scanned Nate's hospital room. It was very similar to the room Matt was resting in; the bed against the top right corner, a TV opposite it, a window on the wall to the right and a small table by the bed's side. On said table, was a remote for the TV, a broken necklace of fire resistance and a plate of well presented food, but it seemed to have been barely touched apart from a few nibble size bites. An IV stand filled with blood was propped not far from Nate's bed, the lead trailing to Nate's arm. Matt guessed it was for a blood transfusion. Nate didn't take any notice to Matt entering the room, so Matt decided to speak up. "Nate?"

Nate's head whipped around startled. Nate looked half asleep, dark circles consumed his eyes, his skin looked pale and flaky and a few stitches were on his left cheek from where the wendigo slashed at him. Once his gaze met with Matt's he gave a sigh of relief, rubbing his eyes with his hand. "Matt. Fucking hell you scared me."

"Sorry." Matt apologised.

Nate shook his head, removing his hand. "No. It's fine." He reassured. Matt watched as Nate started looking around wildly when the sound of someone, most likely a nurse, ruffling through some supplies was heard faintly a few rooms away. Matt sat down on the edge of Nate's bed, who notably stiffened harshly. This is when Matt realised something about Nate wasn't right. Nate was acting incredibly jumpy and seemed to be flinching at every light noise happening around the building. Did this behaviour have a connection to him losing his arm?

After the noise faded. Nate blinked multiple times, seeming to try and block out some memories, before looking at Matt. "So, how are you? I heard that you got badly injured from the fire, but you seem pretty well."

Matt bit his lip. _I can't tell him about my nine lives, not yet._ He shrugged. "I guess I got lucky and healed quickly."

Nate scoffed, jealously was visible glowing in his gaze. "'Lucky' huh? I guess some people are just born lucky. I'm definitely not one of those people."

"Nate, you're lucky too." Matt attempted to reassure him.

Nate gave him a look, clearly not buying it. "Me? Lucky? My entire life has been shit! I was born with a delayed sight, my mother died before I got the chance to know her, I almost starved to death, my friend and guardian was murdered in front of my eyes, I've lost my arm and I almost burned to death in a house while being impaled by a wendigo. Tell me, how is any of that lucky? I am genuinely asking you."

"Well, you're not dead." Matt reminded him.

"Is that a good thing?" Nate sounded choked up.

"Of course it is."

"But I was suppose to die! I was destined to die at that house, in that fire. I shouldn't be here." His vision travelled over to the bedside table, and locked onto the broken necklace. "You gave me that remember? A few days after we met? By giving me that, time was altered. Instead of dying like I was suppose to, the necklace protected me throughout most of the blast and I survived." Nate blinked slowly at the necklace, before moving his gaze to meet Matt's. "I shouldn't be this angry over surviving a death vision. I really should be thanking you but..." He sighed. Nate removed the duvet from over his chest, revealing the stumpy remainder of his left arm, a bandage wrapped around the end tightly. He eyed it painfully. "Now I have this disaster to live with."

Matt gave a lament filled blink, before softly resting his hands over Nate's bandaged up stump. Nate flinched drastically, but he didn't make any signs to indicate he was uncomfortable with Matt's action. Nate looked up, meeting his dark hazel gaze with Matt's chocolate gaze. Matt gave him a friendly smile. "You don't have to live through it alone though. You've got me, Steph, Jason, Jack, Mark and a bunch of others who I'm positive are willing to help you. Sure, I know none of us will live forever; but right now, we are all together. That's what matters now, right?"

Nate was quiet for a second, letting Matt's words sink in. However, to Matt's surprise, Nate snatched his arm out of Matt's hold and hugged himself. "If you never walked into the woods to follow me, you wouldn't have even known I existed. I would have just been another wendigo on your 'to kill' list. No one actual gave a fuck about me until news spread out that I was alive in transformation. But even before that, no one bothered to send out a search party for me when I first disappeared. I was alive for five days. I was starving to death, and no one could be asked to lift a goddamn finger to try and find me. Everyone just let me fall down the abyss of 'fuck you' and never thought about me again. Heck, my own best friend cared about me so much he forgot all about me."

Matt felt his blood turn to ice at that comment. "I had my memories wiped away! I didn't mean to forget you, or Light keepers or the hidden world. I could throw the same argument at you; you lost all memories of your human life when you committed cannibalism. Both of us are in the same situation and we can help each other get through it."

"The same situation huh? I don't see you with a missing arm." Nate snarled. "And I haven't seen you commit cannibalism, becoming a ravenous killer that does nothing but kill and eat humans and forgetting all humanity you once had. Unless I'm missing some sort of scientific evidence, that and having your memories wiped are pretty different. So don't try and place those arguments together and be like 'I know what you're going through' because you clearly don't."

Matt felt taken aback by Nate's harsh tone. Where has this sudden anger and resentment come from?

Nate snapped his head away from Matt and glare out the window. "Just- just leave me alone."

"Nate I-"

"I said leave me alone!" Nate hissed.

Matt quietly bit his lip, eyeing Nate silently as he hung his head away from him. Hesitantly, he moved away from Nate and walked to the door. He opened it, ready to walk out, but he turned to look at Nate one more time.

"I love you." He stated, before walking out and closing the door behind him. Stephanie, Jason, Jack and Mark were standing outside, where he left them. Jack read the sorrow printed on his face and sighed. "Didn't go well?"

Matt shook his head. "He's really angry and full of self-doubt. I tried to reassure him but, he pushed me away."

Stephanie moved towards Matt and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He hugged back tightly, trying to conceal his emotions. Stephanie smiled. 

"It's okay. I'm sure he's just shaken up by what happened. I mean, he lost his arm and almost burned to death in a house in a span of twenty-four hours; I understand why he would be so bitter. Just give him some time to heal."

Matt nodded. He broke the hug with Stephanie. Mark added on to her words. "She's right. he's been through some shit. Heck, we don't even know how he lost his arm. It was probably traumatising for him. Leave him be for a while, he'll come around eventually."

Matt nodded, again. "Right." Mark smiled and took lead to walk out of the hospital building. Everyone else followed behind him. Before he followed his squad leader, Matt gave one, final glance towards Nate in his room. He felt melancholy stab him when he saw the ebony with his hand over his eyes and his face was red as he appeared to be sobbing. He was determined to rush back in and give Nate a hug, but he knew that would only make Nate more hateful. It broke his heart to turn away, but he knew it was best to leave Nate to recover. He turned back to his squad and followed behind them out of the hospital building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of The Hidden World! I hope you guys enjoyed and are excited for the next one, which is going to be called 'The Hidden Truth'. There will be a few month break though, so don't count on refreshing the page ever second, But I will give about a week heads up before I post the first chapter.
> 
> Now; my buddy Futurewatcher and I have been planning other fics together and we have a good handful of them. Out of said handful, we decided to choose five of them, present them to you guys and you get to vote on which idea you like the most. The idea with the most votes, will be the next fic we'll write. I gave an early preview to those who are reading NMMJ but now I'm posting this here now. So Futurewatcher and I have chosen five fics that we've planned and we're going to give you the titles and vague information on the story. It won't be much though, so the plot is still ambiguous. All of these stories are Natepat and Septiplier but I'll put notes next to them so if you want one that's more Natepat focused or Septiplier focused, you can see which is the main ship(s). There will be other ships but across all five of them, Natepat and Septiplier are in all five. If anyone has any questions about any of these, let me know and I'll try an answer them as best as I can, depending on if the question contains spoilers to the story.
> 
> And without further ado, here are the five titles and some information about the plots:
> 
> 1) Dissociate Feelings: Mark and Matt are brothers who have moved to a new city to start college. Nate and Jack are best friends who are going to that same college. However Nate suffers from dissociate identity disorder (DID) and he doesn't want anyone knowing except Jack. Matt gets concerned about Nate's personality shifting and wants to help but Mark is suspicious that Nate's behaviour is more dangerous than it seems - Equal amount of Natepat and Septiplier
> 
> 2) Of Dragons and Skulls: The Assassins of Skull are a vicious group of killers who assassinate people for fun. The Assassins of Dragons are a group of assassins hired by the government to help protect the innocent against the Assassins of Skull. Jack joins the Assassins of Dragon but as soon as he does, the Assassins of Skull become more active and a murder mystery breaks out between the Assassins of Dragon; there's a traitor among them - Slightly more Septiplier but Natepat is pretty prominent too
> 
> 3) Ascendit ex Inferno: Unknown to humans, Angels and Demons roam the world. Matt is a high school student who doesn't believe in the supernatural, Stephanie is an Angel from Heaven wandering around Earth to make sure everything's okay and Nate is a Demon from Hell searching for a mate; chaos ensues - Mainly Natepat, Septiplier is on the side
> 
> 4) Idiosyncratic: Matt found an onyx gem while on a walk. Liking the look of it, he took it home and kept it. However, a few years later, Matt is horrified to witness the innocent gem transform into a 'human being'. The person reveals himself to be called Nate, a being from a different world and he has no idea where he is. Trying to keep Nate's identity a secret from other people, Matt attempts to help Nate get back home while learning more about the mysterious being - Mainly Natepat, Septiplier is on the side
> 
> 5) Children of Denial: After a peculiar incident in class, Mark is transported to a completely different world. He quickly learns that the world is being threaten by a small group of people who call themselves the 'Children of Denial', who are led by the mysterious Queen Denial. He teams up with a resident of this world, named Jack, and others along the way to try and stop them and get back to his own world - Slightly more Septiplier but Natepat is pretty prominent too.
> 
> Those are the five! If you guys have any questions about them, feel free to ask me. Most important of all, tell me which one(s) you like the most and we'll see which one wins the votes. This vote will be open for quite a while, probably until the end of April. I probably won't update anything for a while now, not until the Eater holidaysish since I have so many tests at school that are stressing me out and I need some time to have a break. I know some of your are probably mad that I haven't updated NMMJ like I should have, but I've been really stressed over school work and haven't had the time to update it, so that will be on hold for a while until I feel less anxious. Open Your Eyes will start getting frequentish updates while the vote is going on and the writing of whatever one you guys choose to be the next fic to be written.  
> Anyway; I hope you enjoyed The Hidden World, I hope your excited for The Hidden Truth and I am curious to see which of these five fics comes out on top to be written next :)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Monster](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7726261) by [Futurewatcher](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Futurewatcher/pseuds/Futurewatcher)




End file.
